Tuesday October 19, 6:55 p.m.

It's been a while.

The weekend was a foodie's delight. Once again, I went over to MB's neighbourhood of Jiyugaoka that paean to good dining in the Kanto area. He, The Sylph and I headed over to that tiny ramen joint about half a kilo away from his apartment. I always end up forgetting the name but the lone operator of the place can really whip up his dishes. We had Japanese-style chicken wings, fried rice and my personal fave, maitake mushroom tempura. Of course, I proved again that I still had the glutton in me, despite my 45 years, and finished off with the restaurant's cha siu ramen. And when we got back to the apartment, the three of us dug into some cups of Haagen-Daas. Strangely enough, I still have feeling in both sides of my body.

Since being at MB's automatically means DVD Night, the three of us viewed a couple of blockbusters from last year. The first one was the one MB and I had been itching to see..."The Hangover". We'd been hearing all about how much folks were heaving up their internal organs in laughter from this one. But frankly speaking, The Sylph ironically was doing most of the laughing. I had been expecting a lot more in the humour department but it just seemed as if the movie was one big setup that really never paid off. There were some smirkworthy scenes and one "Holy Cow!" scene with that naked Chinese gangster but I can't really say that I got my money's worth on it.

The other flick was "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time". This one we really had no hope for and as it turned out, our non-hopes were non-realized. It just struck me as one of any number of sword-and-sorcery flicks that have passed around the world for the decade since "Lord of the Rings". Ben Kingsley got his paycheck by playing the usual villain.

The next day, it was basically a continuation of the foodie weekend with MB and The Sylph with just a 2-hour interruption for Yajima's lesson over at the next station. Once again, the three of us went out to try a new Italian place near Jiyugaoka Station called Mocco. Good pasta bolognese.

Then it was the highlight of that Sunday by heading over a few stations to Todoroki Station. Several years ago, it had been my regular late-night Monday duty to head over there to teach a student and her boyfriend. Thankfully, that was a rather brief tour since I always had to run to catch the last train back to Chiba. Well, now, Todoroki is the home of The Satyr and Miss Ivory. Since The Satyr's birthday is close to mine, it was decided that we would have a birthday BBQ of sorts over at his apartment. And indeed, it was a true Canadian barbeque on his huge balcony with marinated steak and veggie kebabs. We even had Feist playing on the stereo for some true Canuck content. The Satyr, as the host grillmaster, got down on himself for allegedly overcooking the meat but MB and I ressured him that everything was fine. Skippy's contribution to the party was Waffle Cake from the Ikebukuro Seibu department store. She brought over 24 of these small waffles filled with a variety of creams such as strawberry or mocha. They were all good to me.

Monday had some interesting turns. Swank did a true dotakyan by leaving a message on the machine early in the morning...after I had left for Cozy's lesson since she was ailing with the flu. And when I got to Speedy's, the staff had left me a cake and cookies for my birthday. Since I was already munching away at the chinsuko that The New Yorker had given me from her trip to Okinawa, as well as some Reese's peanut butter cups from The Satyr, after his trip to Toronto, I felt rather obligated to share my good culinary fortune so I split the cream-filled Tea Chiffon Cake with the staffers.

And Tuesday was no less interesting. I had my usual kaffeeklatsch with The Beehive. Mrs. Travel once again relayed the latest fight she'd had with her husband. But the big news was finding out that our home of 2 years, the Tsudanuma Beckers in JR Tsudanuma, will be closing down in a couple of weeks since the station will be undergoing several months of renovation. So it's been rather timely that we've found a new home at the Tobu Community Centre nearby.

Mr. White has cancelled his lesson once again due to his stresses from his education regiment so I've only got The Milds. I hope that Mrs. Mild is in a better frame of mind.

Friday October 15, 8:08 p.m.

Yep, at 3:32 p.m. this afternoon, I turned the big 45! It happened just two minutes into my 90-minute lesson with Mr. Swank. I somehow made the announcement some 48 minutes later. No big plans although I got some nice wishes from Speedy and the staff, and a few Mixi friends. Plus, I had my fave Chicken Saute over at The Restauranteur's place although neither she nor the juku boss have been informed about my birthday.

The only other student I had was The Bass this morning. For some reason, he seemed slightly edgy...at least for him (he's probably the most laidback student I have)...and his Listening was somewhat out to lunch.

Actually, it's also my niece's birthday as well so good wishes to her. I hope she did get that Miffy book on time.

As usual, I've got the boss and The Restauranteur in less than an hour.

Thursday October 14, 5:33 p.m.

Well, I'm over halfway through another Hump Day. I've finished with The Patent Attorney, Grandma Dynamite, The New Yorker and Mr. TOEFL. The New Yorker got me some Okinawan chinsuko and a small package of Corned Beef Hash after her trip to Okinawa last week. And it was Mr. TOEFL's final lesson with us here at Speedy's. He just had a couple of lessons left on his contract which explains his presence yesterday and today. After this, he's off to Toronto for the next 3 months. I gave him a bit of information on my hometown such as weather...weather is always a biggie for folks heading over there.

I also got a Halloween Dozen from Krispy Kreme for the enlarged gang at Speedy's. Yep, the cameras were all out to take a picture of the Jack O' Lantern donuts. I'll have to supply my own in a future entry.

Anyways, I should grab something from the conbini before The Carolinan gets in since it'll be straight on through her, Miss Thursday and The Music Man before I finish up tonight.

Thursday October 14, 8:29 a.m.

Yep, after all the wonderful news about the miners being brought up from the Chilean depths, there just had to be some sort of lunatic idiocy to balance things out. Apparently, once the very first guy got brought out, the media scrum truly turned into a rugby scrum, tearing down the tent that held the relatives.

Yup, the world is Taoist...

Wednesday October 13, 10:30 p.m.

Got through my gauntlet of lessons today. It was good to see Mr. TOEFL again after 4 months. Ironically after a stint Stateside, he lost about 10 kg! And he had some really good hamburgers to boot.

Basically, The Overachiever, Mr. TOEFL, 001 and Miss Sony were a good bunch to get through a gauntlet. All of them are willing to talk on anything which saves my voice a lot of wear and tear.

I would like to go home now since I not only have to come in early to see The Patent Attorney but I also have a rather massive lineup on Thursday. Looks like Grandma Dynamite is not gonna cancel.

Wednesday October 13, 8:15 p.m.

After about a month, 001 finally came back in from the cold...or Turkey, at least. I did ask her about whether she would be renewing to which she did answer in the affirmative. However, she has booked her next lesson a month later. She is really dragging her contract out. In any case, unsurprisingly, we managed to avoid the boring textbook very easily by talking about her trip and then about Aiba-kun.

Looks like they've gotten 9 miners out from the Chilean depths so far. So far, so good.

I've only got Miss Sony before calling it a night. That loaded lunch has helped me gotten through the 5 hours.

Wednesday October 13, 3:28 p.m.

Well, the epic Chile Mine Rescue drama is now coming to a successful close...I was lucky enough to have been at home to see the Phoenix Capsule go down the shaft and then come up with the first trapped miner. Not a dry eye in the house, including mine. This will probably go down in history as a rescue on the order of Apollo 13. I'm sure a lot of Hollywood producers are thinking of the possibilities.

Mrs. Mild wasn't too mild last night. It wasn't exactly a crash-n'-burn class but Mrs. Mild wasn't in a good mood since she's been suffering from some sort of fatigue due to the up-and-down nature of our weather. She has never been the quickest student in my flock but she always tried hard and had a smile on her face. Not last night. She looked exhausted and even got a bit cranky at her husband. Well, I figure that once in 6 years for her is warranted.

Loaded up on the calories today since from 4 p.m., I'll be going pretty much nonstop until 9:15. I've got The Overachiever, Mr. TOEFL, 001 and Miss Sony tonight. 001 should be interesting for a couple of reasons...she's coming back after a month away due to work and a vacation in Turkey, and this will be her 3rd-last lesson on her current contract. I'll probably ask her about her intentions tonight but I won't be surprised if she decides to finish things with us.

Tuesday October 12, 4:26 p.m.

Well, it's been another long weekend. Ended up buying "Get Smart: Season 2" from Sale, that DVD shop in Akiba specializing in foreign discs. Paid 4,700 yen...yup, a tad expensive but again I really did want to get my hands on it. I've learned the hard way that once an opportunity goes away, that may be it. "Get Smart" is no longer all that funny but I guess my nostalgia bone has been rather tickled by the antics of Max and 99. In any case, it makes a bit easier for me when I head home and grab DVD sets back in Toronto.

Summer just won't let go of us here in the Kanto, and perhaps in the entire country. It came back yesterday with highs of 28 C in Tokyo. It's about 5 degrees cooler today but the humidity has still made it rather sticky. Again, there will be another gradual cooldown over the next few days. Perhaps Fall may come here for good by then.

I had Cozy earlier this morning since yesterday was a national holiday. I tried cooking one of his recommended dishes over the long weekend, oshidofu. It's basically a stew of beef, tofu, bamboo shoots and green onions. It came out rather well but unfortunately I chose the supermarket that charges premium prices for beef as my supplier for ingredients.

Since The Beehive was off today, I had several hours to rest up and have lunch before my usual juku Tuesday crowd of Mr. White and The Milds. Not too bad today but the next couple of days could be rather hellish, especially Thursday since I've got 7 hours' worth of classes. The Sisters of State will make up part of that. The New Yorker cancelled last Friday...maybe the only time in her 5 years with me that she's ever canned a lesson due to a cold. She's now inserted herself into the early afternoon slot. All I know is that I'm either going to be exhausted or grumpy by the time I finish with The Music Man.

However, I'm somewhat happy to say that The Shareholder has cancelled his lesson this Friday once again due to work. Not that he's a bad guy but he's not the most outgoing fellow. As he has himself admitted, he has no sense of humor. His father probably beat it out of him. And I do have Saturday off this weekend.

Saturday October 9, 6:14 p.m.

I've been here much longer than I wanted to but I had to get some things out of the way such as print out my e-ticket for Canada and stuff for The Jyuppies' lesson on the holiday Monday. Yep, I will be working on that day but then again, I've got all of Sunday to sleep in and explore Tokyo.

Yep, I'm still on that "Funny Face" kick after watching it for the first time yesterday on cable. It's not quite on the same level as "Singin' In The Rain" or "West Side Story" but it was still notable to see Fred Astaire in one of his last hoofin'-and-singin' roles while ironically seeing Audrey Hepburn herself whoop and hoof in one of her early roles. Never thought I would actually see the lass dance and sing all by herself, especially since I'd heard about her voice being dubbed over in "My Fair Lady", but that was indeed her trilling her plummy tones and indeed her kicking it about 50s-choreographic style. I would've loved to have seen her do more of those types of roles but I guess she will always be remembered as the gamine ingenue. Although I found out that Audrey would only do the role of Jo only if Fred was in the movie, it was still fantastical to see a lass fall for a guy in his late 50s. But it is a musical, after all.

I finally got rid of the old chassis TV from my living room. I lugged it down 2 flights of stairs when the guys from the recycling center came to the rescue. One of them just flew up the stairs and swept the TV from my grasp as if it were a feather. I think I may know the fellow from that Urayasu Mikoshi Festival from a couple of years ago. He was one of those guys who just loves to carry the portable shrines and has the humpback to show for it. If he was indeed the guy then he could probably lift two television sets without sweating a drop.

I just had the one lesson with The Businesswoman this afternoon. But the school was totally filled with staffers so I basically had lunch and spent my reading time in the kitchen. Didn't like that arrangement too much although I kept my mouth shut, but unfortunately Miss Prim seems to have sensed something and now she's got a bit of a guilt trip since she was using my usual station for her work. I tried to be good about it and told her that it was OK but with these fragile types, it's never all that easy to convince them. Well, it doesn't matter since I'll be away next week and I'll be away permanently from Saturdays next year.

Friday October 8, 8:49 p.m.

Well, I finally got the first Journo lesson out of the way after several aborted attempts in the past several weeks. He's a talker all right and I think a good third of the lesson (2 hours in total) was spent on him talking about his brief words with Al Pacino at The Emmys. For a movie nut like me, this was conversational gold. As a student, he does need help with Listening and overall structure, though.

Sigh of relief.

I also caught an Audrey Hepburn movie that I hadn't seen before. That isn't saying much since I've only seen two movies by the gamine, "Roman Holiday" and "Sabrina". But I have to say that "Funny Face" was pretty interesting in the look of New York back in the late 50s...much of what current hit TV drama "Mad Men" is evincing now.

But more later....the juku boss will be here soon for her lesson.

Friday October 8, 11:44 a.m.

Well, as it turns out, my schedule just got halved. I'd actually been informed a couple of days ago that both The Shareholder and Mr. Swank cancelled due to work and The New Yorker let me know she was feeling a bit like the cold yesterday via e-mail. I asked her to call me before 9 this morning. I guess she took that message a bit too literally since I was just about to go out the door at 9 when I got the call from her to cancel. I was caught a bit off guard since her voice didn't sound anything like she usually does in person and I thought I heard a different name so I may have sounded a bit cold to her. I sent an apology letter to her when I came to the I-cafe a few hours ago, so this is where I've been.

At least, I could rest up and have a bit of R&R since I felt like sleeping for a few years after yesterday's all-day stint at Speedy's. And I can approach The Journo's first lesson in somewhat of a relaxed state.

Thursday October 7, 10:37 p.m.

Long day here...came in at 7:30 this morning, will probably be checking out at 10:45 p.m. La Fille noticed that my eyes were looking pretty bloodshot. Hopefully, this wasn't too apparent to The Music Man. In any case, I'm feeling ready for bed.

The New Yorker confirmed that she would be there for tomorrow but she's also told me that she's coming down with a cold. I gave her a potential out by saying that if she feels sick tomorrow that she can give me a call to re-schedule.

Still haven't heard from the juku boss about any more cancellations from The Journo. So it looks like I may finally get to teach the guy.

Thursday October 7, 4:15 p.m.

Never left the school today. I'm just fiddling about on the computer. I've already gotten prepped for The Journo's lesson tomorow; that was the big worry of the week but I figure that I'm about as ready as I'll ever be. I've been monitoring the phone messages. Nothing that would concern him cancelling...yet.

Miss Revlon has left but Miss Efficiency and Miss Schmooze are talking strategy in one room while the bossman is talking with a prospective customer in the other. Still have about an hour and 45 minutes before The German comes in for her lesson.

Thursday October 7, 11:57 a.m.

Yep still here. After an animated conversation about an hour ago amongst Miss Efficiency, new addition Miss Revlon and myself on movies, things have settled into an easy calm. Speedy has yet to show up. I'll probably have to leave within the next few hours since we may have the arrival of Miss Schmooze and The Babydoll coming to fill up the desks here. Maybe at that time, I'll head out for lunch. I don't feel particularly hungry at the moment but then again when one is just sitting down and teaching/surfing, calories don't disappear too quickly.

Now that "Heroes" is slowly fading away from Japanese shores now that the final season is here, "Fringe" is getting ready to take its place. It'll be starting up on SuperDrama TV from the 23rd. Looks interesting and the station has been hitting the campaign trail for it for the past few months. Most likely, one or two of the stars will probably head over here.

Thursday October 7, 9:38 a.m.

Just finished with The Patent Attorney. Our conversations are great but slogging through those patent document proofreadings can be murder...especially for a teacher who only got 5 hours of sleep.

Part of our discussion was on the one piece of good news for Japan this week. Another two Japanese scientists got the Nobel Prize for Chemistry yesterday. Whenever any Japanese national gets some sort of international award, it's almost Pavlovian at how the media starts to salivate. A few weeks ago, it was gamine actress Eri Fukatsu who got Best Actress at the Montreal Film Festival. Now it's these two fellows, Professors Akira Suzuki and Eiichi Negishi. I heard Professor Negishi's English acceptance; he basically sounded like a Nisei or Sansei Japanese-American, and his Japanese had a bit of an odd delivery...I gather that was because of his decades-long residence in America. It was a bit unfortunate to watch on NHK News this morning to see his Japanese reply to his win mostly consist of his insistence that he was still Japanese to the bone.

Well, now that my first student has come and gone, my second student won't be showing up until 6 p.m. tonight. I've gotta prepare for the long-awaited inaugural lesson for The Journo...that is, if he doesn't yet again dotakyan. But I figure that I'll be going out at some point in the early afternoon just to refresh myself.

I received a rather interesting job offer from an acquaintance of mine through Facebook last night. Apparently for the past 6 months, he had been working under a former Minister in Prime Minister Abe's short-lived regime at some sort of science council but was planning to leave. He thought I would be ideal for the position. Frankly, it took me all but a minute to make my decision of NO. He did mention that it could be difficult working under a politician....I sensed some political spinning in that statement. My current job has plenty of ups and downs to keep me going here without having to work under some sort of nebulous personality.

Wednesday October 6, 10:29 p.m.

Thus, another day has come to an end. Miss Sony was charming as always. And Speedy wants to wrap it up.

Got an early start with The Patent Attorney but after that, there is this big donut of time and space until The German comes in at 6 p.m. tomorrow.

Wednesday October 6, 7:21 p.m.

The big lug here is ex-yokozuna Asashoryu...and I would like to emphasize "ex". This is a fellow who had become notorious in his short tenure at the very top of the sumo ranks by being seen on film playing soccer in Mongolia while he was supposed to have been out sick, inciting a major brawl at a pub, slagging off Japan right after his ouster, etc. In any case, he resigned before he was ousted by the Japan Sumo Association. Basically, he was persona non grata.

And yet a few days ago, he got the grand retirement ceremony that every rikishi gets when it's time to hang up the mawashi. It was obvious that his most ardent supporters (apparently around 300...not all that many) filled up...or tried to...the Kokugikan in Ryogoku on Sunday. And a lot of the current wrestlers came up one by one to snip a lock of his hair as is custom. Even his unofficial rival, yokozuna Hakuho arrived to snip a lock of hair although he only gave a very terse greeting. But it was also interesting that there was one old woman in front row who refused to applaud and just gave Hakuho a murderous glare while he was coming up to the dohyo. No love from her at least.

My beef is that if Asashoryu is a disgraced rikishi, then why did he get this extravaganza? I can only wonder what the other ranked sumo wrestlers must have thought. But then again, a lot of those folks are no longer as pure as the driven snow, at least not since this summer when the gambling scandals happened. Perhaps this was the "in" that Asashoryu needed to get his official goodbye party. If there had been no scandal, then he wouldn't have gotten it. It was something that The Milds and I were scratching our heads about last night in class. And it just makes the JSA look that much more ineffectual.

Wednesday October 6, 5:52 p.m.

My stint with The Overachiever went well although I think I'll have to set up something with him about boosting his vocabulary.

In the meantime, it looks like I've had a bumper crop in cancellations. First, Mr. Swank has to head off on a business trip this Friday. Now, The Shareholder cancelled this Friday which means that I'll have nothing to do with Speedy students. I just have The New Yorker at Starbucks in Shinjuku and then it'll be the juku...whether or not The Journo actually can make it. Not quite sure yet and the boss is also rather skeptical. And there has been an incident in which some young teenage boy got stabbed to death in Kobe...The Journo may have to head on out there.

And I did forget to mention that once again Grandma Dynamite has cancelled since apparently her husband has also ended up in hospital along with her brother-in-law. I heard that The Publicity Assistant will not be showing on Speedy's doorsteps for about a month due to work. She may in for a shock when I tell her that I will no longer be working on Saturdays from January.

Wednesday October 6, 2:57 p.m.

Not much of a Hump Day today. Just have The Overachiever in about an hour and then Miss Sony later tonight.

Ended up going to Ginza in the morning to check out Yamano Music. As it turned out, there was nothing that I really wanted to buy there so I just went over to Hong Kong Dim Sum, that Chinese buffet restaurant in Yurakucho that I frequent perhaps twice a year for lunch. I guess I really am slowing down in my gluttonous ways. In past years, I would've been going back and forth between the buffet tables and my table. But nowadays, I'm just taking it easy, chewing each bite the requisite 42 times, going up just three times and even getting lots of salad for bulk and vitamins. Not like the old days.

Before heading over to Speedy's, I dropped by Marronier Gate, the new Yurakucho complex which seems to be designed for the sophisticated (read: rich) ladies. Not surprisingly, the upper floors had tons of restaurants. There was a buffet at some place called Jim Thomson's which looks interesting.

I got the word straight from Mr. Swank that he will have to cancel his lesson this Friday due to a business trip. It'll be too bad to miss that one but at least I can breathe some sigh of relief since I was worried about the commute time from Shinjuku that day to the juku since I'm supposed to have The Journo for his very belated first lesson. Then again, The Journo may also cancel, too.

My bank account is now somewhat lighter as I transferred the money for my air ticket over to the travel agency. But the deed is done...I'll be heading over to Narita in December for the trip home.

Tuesday October 5, 6:47 p.m.

Peaceful interlude right now although it's gone back to humid. Went up to about 25 or 26 today. Not exactly the blistering temps we were getting a month ago but there's still a bit of Summer that's kicking about.

Sent off my niece's birthday card and present this morning. Apparently, she's into little white mice so my brother belatedly advised me to get something of that sort for her present but I'd already gotten her a Miffy book...not quite mice but still little and white.

We had the 2nd Beehive class in our new home of the nearby community centre to Tsudanuma Station. Instead of the small tatami room, we got the bigger room with table, chairs and blackboard. It reminded me of our old home at the Ace Lanes Bowling Alley that we had had to vacate a few years ago. Mrs. Travel, as is her nature, did a bit of downright civic traveling via the English-language Hato Bus tour in Tokyo. She had been so impressed with it that she suggested going on a similar metropolitan jaunt for one of our final lessons of the year as a field trip. Sounds nice to them but since the only tours available are either all-day or evening, I'm pretty much out of the loop. Mrs. Jade had a gripe...a very rare one and not too violent, although it was obvious she was consternated...about her other English teacher, a middle-aged British woman who also has a side business as a gaijin tarento in commercials. According to Jade, her teacher of 4 years is very self-possessed but tends to look down upon (at least to her) her students, and especially Japanese women apparently, since they seemingly come off as being shallow and too obedient (obviously, this British woman hasn't been to Shibuya although some of the young folk there are probably as shallow as they come). In any case, Jade and a few of her classmates felt that their teacher crossed the line when she assigned them the homework assignment of show n' tell; Jade felt insulted in getting a children's activity. I suggested to her that she and her classmates should make it clear to her about their feelings but Jade said that they will demur and endure for the remaining lessons in the year since their teacher will be leaving for home permanently after Xmas. After hearing that, I kinda wondered if the teacher had a point.

Then I was off to Urayasu City Hall to help out my old friend who wants to get a divorce. That website wasn't too helpful in telling me exactly where the Foreign Assistance Desk was. I first ended up at Shin-Urayasu Station, in the heart of Chiba's trendiest neighbourhood, where the nearest government building only had an International Friendship Association but nothing to help me about my friend. However, it was evident that Shopper's Plaza or MONA had gotten some major upgrading to match the surrounding area's rise to Aoyama-dom.

Nope, in actual fact, I had to take the bus for a couple of kilometres to reach my intended destination of City Hall where a kind lady from Poland took me down to the relevant desk and the staffer there hashed things out amongst the three of us. Basically, it ended up that my friend and I will be doing some correspondence tag with various documents unless the Canadian Embassy in Malaysia gets its act together.

My main gripe with Urayasu City Hall is that it's a devil to get to...although maybe that was the intent. Buses heading back to Urayasu Station come only once every 30 minutes and it's probably a 40-minute trek on foot. Most likely, I'll be making another trip there next week to follow up on my friend's request.

At the juku, I've had Mr. White. He's got a rather fragile constitution but was all smiles for today at least. The Milds will be here in less than an hour.

For tomorrow, I found out that Grandma Enka won't be making it for her monthly chat session with me. Speedy informed me that her husband had collapsed and was rushed to hospital. That doesn't sound good at all. So, she'll be away for the rest of the month. I kinda wonder how that might affect her sister, Grandma Dynamite, although unless things get really bad, I think she will still come for her lessons. Therefore, my first lesson tomorrow will be with The Overachiever at 4 followed by Miss Sony at 8:30. Yup, 001 will be away for one more week. My most senior student at Speedy's is coming perilously close to the end of her contract, and methinks that she's dragging it out. I think she may have two more left but I'm frankly doubtful that she would want to continue after 5 years.

On the nice front, Speedy also told me that Mr. TOEFL will be coming back for just two more lessons after his 3-month stint in North Carolina. He's actually supposed to be heading to Toronto in 2 weeks for another multi-month session so it's very likely that he and I could meet for lunch or dinner. Would love to introduce him to some of the folks back at home.

And after an absence of several weeks, The Satyr and MB have called in. The Satyr is planning a little BBQ at their apartment sometime in mid-October. And MB has asked me to do the usual DVD Night beforehand although I do have Yajima on that Sunday morning. In any case, it'll be great to see them again.

Anyways, I got a lot off my chest today.

Monday October 4, 8:46 p.m.

A fairly busy day. I had my usual tandem of Cozy and then Swank before I headed off to Ginza, but unfortunately Yamano Music was closed that day. Then I crossed the street over to the new Jenga-ized Mitsukoshi...I say, Jenga-ized since three new floors got built upon the original in the past several months. All of them are restaurant floors. As expected with something that is new in Tokyo, there were tons of lineups. Never meant to have any hope of entering any of them.

Then I ended up going to Shinjuku where I directly went to No. 1 Travel's office on the edge of Kabukicho to purchase my ticket for Toronto. Yep, for the third consecutive year, I'll be heading back to The Great White North for Xmas. When I checked their website, I'd thought that I didn't have a snowball's chance in Hell of getting an Air Canada ticket since I couldn't find anything there. However, as I made my request to the young lady at the counter, I could snap up one with no problem. As usual, all of the taxes and surcharges pretty much threw out the discount out of the ticket.

However, I'll be seeing my parents even more than average since I got the heads-up from Mom that she and Dad will be hopping over next month. And they'll be spending a few nights at least at my place...which means the next few weeks will be busy with cleaning, defumigating and exorcising. Nothing like the parents coming over to visit to spark a son into action.

Strangely, I've got The Medicine Man on the slate, and he hasn't called to cancel yet.

Saturday October 3, 3:05 p.m.

Got through the two lessons but I was struggling to stay awake during The Intellectual's lesson for some reason...I gather that lunch was getting digested. Well, in any case, I'm done for the day. I've started searching for that air ticket to get me back home for Xmas once more. I'll probably be dropping by No. 1 Travel sometime between The Artist's and Miss Genki's lessons on Monday.

Saturday October 2, 10:39 a.m.

Bernard Schwarz, aka Tony Curtis, has passed on. However, I did get to see the last hour of "Sweet Smell of Success", probably one of the most ironic titles for a motion picture ever produced, since the overarching thematic aroma is one of corrosive acid. Sad to say, but even the last 60 minutes of this movie was the first time I'd ever seen a Curtis movie. The only other time I did see the fellow was when he came on "The Flintstones" as "Stony Curtis". There are some more movies that I have to see of him.

I also ended up catching the last hour of "Shaft" with Samuel Jackson which was chock-filled with stars but I think the amalgam of 70s blaxploitation styling with turn-of-the-century reality didn't quite take, although it was interesting to see Jeffrey Wright hamming it up as Peoples Hernandez and Christian "Batman" Bale as one of his mid-career psycho killers.

I was supposed to have the full 3 for my Saturday shift. But The Publicity Assistant baled out suddenly last night. So it's just Miss Prissy and The Intellectual. Both are coming up to the ends of their current contracts so I'm not sure what they will do. The Intellectual will probably renew but again since I'll only be teaching them regardless for several more weeks, having either or both of them leave the nest will not trouble me too much. They put in their dues.

Friday October 1, 1:22 p.m.

Gotta get this down fast since The Shareholder is on his way here. But it is indeed October. And still pretty warm out there but not like the hellish conditions of a month ago.

Of course, with Fall firmly settled in, it's time for all those warm dishes that Japan loves to rail about ad nauseum in magazines and on TV. For me, Fall means lots of minestrone...homemade, of course. I made my first batch in about a couple of years last weekend. Was able to get five bowls of the stuff over 2 days. Not too fussy about what goes in. This batch had potatoes, carrots, garlic, onions and a zucchini...and of course, bacon.

Had my lesson with The Bass this morning in Funabashi. Yep, he did contact The Matron's hubby who's the high-powered lawyer. But it looks like he won't be of much help since this involves an errant distributor in America. The Bass would have to contract not only him but an American attorney to track down one single person. Would be prohibitively expensive. As usual, the Bass was pretty sanguine about it and said he'll just keep plugging away.

After The Shareholder, I'll be heading over to Shibuya to pick up a CD or two and some magazines since I've just gotten paid. And then it'll be off to have dinner at The Restauranteur's in Urayasu. The Journo's inaugural class will be held off for one more week. Then, he promises to be there next week for 2 hours.

Heard over the wire that Tony Curtis has left this mortal coil. Was never a fan of his but I knew of his 50s/60s stature as one of the last great idols of Golden Age Hollywood. I may decide to watch "Some Like It Hot" one of these days. Anyways, The Shareholder is here....

Thursday September 30, 3:51 p.m.

It's been a nice comedown from the stresses of the last few days. I got all the translations done that The Corner had dumped on me, and for about half an hour, I had a pleasant conversation with the latest addition to the staff who'll be heading up the kids' school in about a few weeks' time. She'll be The Tahitian and will be joining Miss Sussex and The Babydoll at the new school. The bossman is aiming for a mid-October launch perhaps with the mind to get some sort of Halloween vibe going to attract the little ones.

I just heard from the juku boss that The Journo has actually committed to having his first class on the 8th. Well, we'll see. This will mean that I'll be done here at Speedy's at 2:30 tomorrow and then have the Friday night juku classes from 9 p.m. I can perhaps get some CD/magazine shopping done at Tower Records in Shibuya and even have one more dinner at The Restauranteur's place.

If the above comic strip looks familiar to you, then you're either middle-aged or a Peanuts fan. That was the first Peanuts strip ever shown on October 2, 1950, and starts the Charlie Brown legend on a pretty mild note, though the punch line has a bit of the venom which will stream through the strip for half a century. So on Saturday, Snoopy and the gang turn 60, some 10 years after their creator, Charles Schulz, left this mortal coil. Here in Japan, Snoopy remains the most beloved of the characters and I'm sure the Peanuts store in Omotesando's Kiddyland will have some sort of celebration.

Thursday September 30, 8:31 a.m.

And now we are at the end of September. Meterologically, it's been the equivalent of a blockbuster action picture. Torrid conditions at the beginning, followed by typhoons in the middle and now it's just a gloomy denouement. What will October bring?

It's been a busy week for me, I gather, to compensate for the relatively free last week. The Corner keeps sending me translations starting with the quote, "Oh, I need to send another..."; kinda like Columbo and his questions. I can now see why the criminals were driven mad. Still, it's money in the bank for me.

Just got three today but I've got that huge donut in the middle. I'll probably be using some of it for the translations but I would prefer not to end up spending my entire day inside Speedy's. I've got Grandma Dynamite for the first time in a few weeks. I've basically given up thinking of any sort of curriculum for her since she's so erratic in her schedule...maybe she'll end up practicing another show tune in front of me like last time. Later in the evening, I've got a triple in the form of The Carolinan, Mrs Thursday and The Music Man. The Carolinan has just gotten back from a trip to Thailand which she had apparently enjoyed, so I figure that some of the lesson will be centered around the report on her vacation.

Wednesday September 29, 10:22 p.m.

It's definitely been a long time since my last entry. Just got saddled with so much translation stuff from The Corner. I even had to go into the I-Cafe early Tuesday morning before seeing The Beehive.

I had a bit of a respite on Sunday afternoon, though, when I saw The Jyuppies for their regular lesson in Futako-Tamagawa. However, before the lessons, though, they were kind enough to take me to a fave restaurant of theirs in their old neighbourhood of Komazawa Park. It was called The Bowery Kitchen, and at first thought, I was reminded of old and dangerous 19th-century New York neighbourhoods, but The Bowery actually looked like a 21st-century trendy little cafe. My main course is shown in the above picture...yup, Japanese steak. I emphasize the Japanese since this is not a cut you will ever see in a typical American steakhouse. It was thin and tender and came with a huge dollar of herb butter. In Japan, steak is not steak unless it comes up with at least a pat of butter on top. At first, I was rather disgusted by the thought of adding extra cholesterol on top of something that is full of the stuff already, but I can see the madness in the method. Adding that extra bit of flavour. Still, The Bowery Kitchen really liked to slap on the Land O' Lakes. I had the waffles as well for dessert...to add insult to injury (to my heart). That also came with two huge pats of fruit-infused butter. I couldn't even eat the 2nd pat...it would've necessitated the defibrillator.

Apparently, The Jyuppies made at least 3 celeb sightings in the restaurant while we were there. There was model/TV personality SHIHO with her K-1 fighter husband, old 90s rock singer Nanase Aikawa and actor Yutaka Takenouchi. I didn't notice a soul...was just too much into the food and besides, I'm very cognizant of the fact that celebs are also people who require their privacy. I wouldn't even want to venture forth and ask for their autographs....not that I was a fan of any of the three anyways.

Anyways, the bossman wants to go home so I'll just cut it here. The Corner is still sending me translation requests, but I'm done for tonight.

Friday September 24, 10:25 a.m.

Politically, it's still blazing here due to the current row between China and Japan. Now, China has detained 4 Japanese nationals on some unverified charges in what is looking like a tit-for-tat battle since Japan hasn't bowed down to Beijing pressure to release the Chinese captain. What it's starting to look like is that the incident will string itself out with a lot of hurt feelings and cancelled exchanges and culminate with a swap of sorts between the two brats. In any case, any sort of "prisoner" exchange is a face-saving ploy on the Chinese side.

Meterologically, Autumn has officially come. It's still nice and cool outside without any of the downpours that characterized yesterday's weather. Probably there will be no more ambushes by Summer for the next several months.

Athletically, it's been a good week. A Mongolian in Japan did himself proud earlier in the sumo dohyo (and is still keeping the winning streak alive), and just this morning a Japanese did the same thing in America. Ichiro Suzuki broke the record for the longest number of 200-hit seasons, and right in my hometown. It's hard to believe that he's been with Seattle for a decade now.

As for me, I got some early shuteye last night in the now-errant assumption that I would be teaching The Photog at about this time. However, with just 15 minutes before showtime, he called up to dotakyan. I could just imagine his reaction at having to cancel his lesson. He would be squirming all over the place and giving his deep apologies in that squeaky voice of his...just like Jerry Lewis in his 50s prime. Well, I still get paid and I now have a lot of time to plow through some more of my latest translation assignment from The Corner. Plus, I did get a nice scrambled egg breakfast at the nearby Jonathan's.

Had a near-meltdown on Tuesday over at the juku. That will teach me from having a Quarter Pounder Set for dinner and then a Peach Jelly with two Iced Coffees for dessert. While I was teaching The Milds...professionally and calmly as usual...my insides were basically threatening eruption. However, from vast experience, I was able to hold my intestines under control (though it was a huge matter of mind over lots of matter) for 50 minutes. As soon as I said goodbye to my senior students, I just rushed into the bathroom and finally let everything go. I could only hope that my sigh wasn't too loud.

Well, now that my 1st class has been wiped from the slate, I just have Mr. Swank at his company before the juku classes later in the evening. With my luck, he'll end up calling the school to cancel due to some emergency meeting or business trip. Plus, I've gotta go out to the post office to send off a letter to The Matron's wife...The Lawyer...since The Bass may need some help with that errant distributor out in California.

Thursday September 23, 12:37 p.m.

Well, the weather gods have fulfilled their end of the bargain very well. Yesterday it was officially the final day of Summer and it was sunny with a high of 33 C. Today, the first day of Autumn came in with a pet shop's worth of rain and temps are struggling to go beyond 18 C. So, within 24 hours, we've dropped 15 degrees.

It is the 2nd national holiday of the week since the Autumnal Equinox is deemed in this country as important enough to demand everyone...or almost everyone...to take the day off. I'm sure a lot of people here will not refute that policy. I was talking with Miss Sony last night about her plans for today which are just to sleep all day. For a lot of corporate drones, sleep is now considered a pastime. She told me that on average she gets just 3 hours of sleep a night during the regular workweek. That would just have me jumping off a JR track. It is with some irony that I reacted to that since I had heard some 15 years ago that Japan would now be entering a period of leisure and try to unloosen their ties. But in the 21st century, it's still an inu-eat-inu world in The Land of the Rising Blood Pressure.

The Japanese government is also earning my above sobriquet due to its current and latest feud with China over its arrest of a Chinese captain for ramming its boat into a Japan Coast Guard ship. Friendship exchanges have been postponed at the very least and even SMAP cannot go perform in Shanghai next month....although I'm not sure if that is necessarily a bad thing. And then there has been news of a possible coverup involving a fellow in the Osaka Prosecutor's Office doing a bit of data-tampering.

However, Japan can take solace that it isn't in India's shoes considering the potential fiasco that may explode in about 11 days in Delhi, I believe. Less than 2 weeks to go before The Commonwealth Games arrive there and apparently less than 50% of the athletes' dormitories are ready and a major skywalk between a stadium and a parking lot has collapsed injuring several construction workers. A majority of the athletes are now considering to engage in one mass event....the thousand-kilometre walkout.

Back to Japan, Paris Hilton wasn't allowed to officially enter the country due to her little cocaine pouch in Las Vegas. At least, the twit could stay in a Narita hotel. 30 years ago, Sir Paul McCartney ended up in handcuffs for just having a bit of weed.

I've been catching bits and pieces of movies on cable....saw an old chestnut by the title of "The St. Valentine's Day Massacre" starring a relatively youthful Jason Robards, George Segal and Bruce Dern. It was an old-style tribute to the 20s with all of the characters all talking and sneering out of the sides of their muoths. And there was a bit of a "Star Trek" alert with Celia (T'Pau) Lovsky as one of the massacre victims' mother and Joseph Campanella who relatively recenty had appeared on an episode of "Star Trek: Voyager". Then, I also caught the tail end of "The Presidio", the late 80s movie starring James Bond and Agent Gibbs. I could see where Mark Harmon got some of his snarl as Gibbs. But it was the first time I'd ever seen Sean Connery cry on screen.

I'm taking it nice and easy today but tomorrow will be a relatively busy day...perhaps in quality if not in quantity. I've got The Photog early in the morning, and he's always rather loosey-goosey about what he wants to talk about. Then it's Mr. Swank who's just got that Tahitian vibe about him. I've made up a tentative curriculum for him which should corral him into line for the next several weeks...at least up to Xmas.

But the important thing is that I'm happy it's Autumn...and it feels like it!

Wednesday September 22, 7:48 p.m.

It's been a light week thus far. The holiday Monday, the two lessons at the juku last night and only Miss Sony tonight at Speedy's since 001 is gone for the month and The Overachiever cancelled for the month. Plus, Thursday is yet another holiday to celebrate the arrival of Autumn. And the timing could be excellent. It was another hot one in the country...up to 33 C today but tomorrow supposedly promises rain and far cooler temps for the Equinox.

With only the lone student tonight here, I came in just a few hours ago and I've been doing a lot of other stuff along with the prep for Miss Sony's lesson. I've also been coming up with some sort of coherent plan for Mr. Swank since things have been getting a little too loose with him, and at the same time, I've been tackling the new translation assignment from The Corner.

Monday September 20, 1:23 p.m.

If there were something that the beleaguered world of sumo needed, it would be this news. And ironic that it would come in the form of a Mongolian. Mind you, this is Hakuho, the lone yokozuna. And just like John Wayne, he cleaned up by himself to possess the longest postwar winning streak since legendary Chiyonofuji The Wolf did it a couple of decades ago. He also won yesterday which means that he now has 55 wins under his mawashi. He needs 15 more to become the all-time winner. The original Futabayama still has that 69-win streak, unbeaten since the 30s. Now, every time Hakuho goes up from now until the 7th game of the next tournament in November, the media and everyone else will be focusing laser-like on him.

I actually did get my day off after all. I was supposed to have taught Cozy earlier this morning, but I got a call from him last night that he had to go some urgent business outside of the city so he cancelled. Got to wake up gloriously later than expected and had a 200 yen-combi for my MacBreakfast...a Sausage McMuffin and an iced coffee. The usual set with the hash brown comes to 440 yen...good golly, does that mean the potato costs more than then the McMuffin and coffee put together?

Got to teach Yajima yesterday in Den'en-Chofu. Usually during the break, the guy brings out some sweets to munch on. I actually got some coffee-infused chocolates straight from Buckingham Palace since his brother came back from a trip to London recently. Had no idea the Queen was into entrepreneurship.

It'll be a light week by any stretch of the imagination. I've got the 2 days off today and Thursday due to national holidays and the rest of the schedule looks pretty sparse. Basically just two or three lessons on the days that I am working.

Saturday September 17, 3:27 p.m.

I just had The Intellectual for the one lesson today. We have more staff than students in the office today: La Fille, Miss Prim and The Kewpie Doll (she'll be heading to the new school) plus Speedy. I'll be taking off pretty soon since I've got washing to do.

The Corner has sent me a new translation assignment of a website. I don't know quite yet how long I've got to get this done but the next week will be relatively un-busy because of the two national holidays and some sparse scheduling. I may actually get enough sleep.

Still, I will have to get up early tomorrow and Monday for Yajima and Cozy respectively. A bit of a pity, though both guys are nice guys and students. Ah, c'est la vie.

Saturday September 18, 3:10 p.m.

A tale of two junkies today. The first one is Manabu Oshio, the guy right above me in the police car. Strangely enough, until his arrest a year ago for MDMA possession and letting his lover die of an overdose, he was frankly not exactly on the A-list of Japanese celebrities. He was a tough-guy actor and "singer". Since then, he's popped up on TV over the past 12 months as his case finally culminated in court over the past couple of weeks, culminating in his conviction yesterday with a 2.5-year sentence. A lot of folks feel that he got off easy, but he and his legal team are screaming appeal.

However, the true tragedy is represented in the two pictures on either side. It's a Before-After thing involving the very former tarento Masashi Tashiro. The Before side is to the right with him parodying the announcement of the new Imperial reign period from 2 decades ago. He'd been a member of the 80s doo-wop band The Chanels (later to be horribly re-named Rats & Stars) with lead crooner Masayuki Suzuki before he really hit the big time as a TV personality in the late 80s and 90s,usually alongside comedy legend Ken Shimura. He could've ended up being as big a host as any of the big 3 of Beat Takeshi, Tamori or Akashiya Sanma.

But as the left side After pic shows, things really turned for the worse for him over the past decade. First, he got caught taking pictures up a high school girl's skirt back in 2000. And then came a series of busts for illegal weapons and drug possession. Finally, came the news a couple of days ago that Tashiro was arrested in a parking lot right by the Aka-Renga buildings in Yokohama (a place that I'd visited a couple of weeks ago) doing cocaine in his car with his girlfriend by the cops. Things take a sadly humourous quality in that they were doing this as whole hordes of cops were patrolling the area in a tune-up leading to the APEC conference in Minato Mirai in November. As he was taken away for booking, the After picture shows him as a combination of his old self and Munch's "The Scream" picture. Acquaintances had suspected that he was doing the stuff but Tashiro kept denying it.

This man has hit rock bottom. Oshio should take a look at Tashiro and thank his lucky stars. Noriko Sakai, the poster girl of aidorus-gone-bad, should also look at Tashiro and just thank heavens it was merely her career that has been destroyed. Tashiro has repeatedly bleated his intention to repent only to get thrown back into the gutter. Now, I think there's a pretty good chance that he's not going to survive much longer. He's lost his family, his friends and his career. There's really nothing left but his life to sacrifice now.

Friday September 17, 1:06 p.m.

Quite dry for the first time in a few days here in The Big Sushi. I was indeed able to confirm that The Journo did cancel on me and the juku boss once again...this time for the remainder of this month. The boss relayed to me that The Journo was worried that I might be rather furious. No, I'm not but I do wonder what possessed him to take lessons with us if he were going to be this busy.

The Bass is still recovering from his injuries after that wicked motorcycle accident he'd been involved in a few weeks back. He had some X-rays done and luckily there were no broken bones but just residual pain. But he's also asked me for some legal help since he's been having problems with an errant American distributor. I'll be calling up The Matron's husband sometime soon.

I've got The Shareholder in about 20 minutes. Then I have to run off to Shinjuku for my session with Mr. Swank. Both guys have their challenges. The Shareholder is a self-admitted humorless fellow while Mr. Swank has a very Tahitian attitude toward studying. In any case, I think The Journo's dotakyan is a blessing in disguise. So I don't have to run off at warp speed from Shinjuku to get to Urayasu in time.

Thursday September 16, 10:48 p.m.

Been another long day. Finished with Mrs. Thursday and The Music Man. Both had gone down to Guam last week. Both figured that English wasn't needed since the hospitality industry rightly pegged the Japanese as the main source of tourism. It'll be another 2 weeks before I see them since next Thursday is a national holiday.

Feeling pretty tired now, but I've got another long day ahead of me tomorrow since I've got The Bass, The Shareholder, Mr. Swank and then the juku classes. Luckily, The Journo did cancel once again.

Thursday September 16, 6:29 p.m.

As expected, I got a message from the juku boss concerning The Journo. Once again, he's cancelled...this time for the duration of September. I've got a feeling that this one's gonna be a goner. Well, at least that's one student I won't have to plan for.

I caught half of a movie yesterday called "Apt Pupil", a late 90s flick starring Sir Ian McKellen and the late Brad Renfro. It's about an old psychopathic Nazi (a redundant term, I know) hiding out in middle America who, in much of the way of Faust, teaches a latent sociopathic teen the ways of being evil. This was just before McKellen hit the big time with "X-Men" and "Lord of the Rings"; he was his masterful self, but I just thought the story didn't quite come to a particularly satisfying resolution. Todd, Renfro's character, uses his master's exact words to threaten David "Friends" Schwimmer...thus showing that he has made the successful transition to evil being at the end of the movie, but unlike what critics had said, I didn't think that Schwimmer looked particularly intimidated so that he would shut up.

Thursday September 16, 6:10 p.m.

The German and I had a half-gab, half-text lesson which meant that things went inordinately well. She'll be taking off for London next week for a few days of vacation. Hopefully, she'll be taking lots of pics there, so I can vicariously enjoy life in another country.

Miss Thursday is next on the list in a couple of hours.

Thursday September 16, 4:17 p.m.

Came back from my little recce on the rainy Tokyo streets. Took a short hop on the bus over to Tokyo Opera City between here and Shinjuku. As the name would imply, it is a centre devoted to concerts of a highly classical nature but the actual auditorium is surrounded by layers of corporate offices and restaurants. I ended up having lunch at the Hub, an English pub chain. With all of the chestnut wood and leather, it's ideal for the kacho class of executive. I had the Fish N' Chip plate which was actually fairly good...not an easy thing in this area of the world. However, the cooks could make the batter a bit more crispy.

Afterwards, I walked all the way over to Takashimaya Times Square and checked out Kinokuniya before I took a small break at Krispy Kreme #1. Yep, the place's heyday as an excuse to line up for 2 hours for donuts is now officially over. Got in within a couple of minutes. Still got a free sample of what I was gonna eat, the Apple Pie donut with a cup of jo. Lasted up on the 2nd floor for about half an hour before sleep threatened to claim me so I decided to head on out to Tower Records for a while before getting back to Speedy's.

Thursday September 16, 7:58 a.m.

I guess this is Number 3,600. And a rainy entry it is, too. The skies are just carpetbombing us with precipitation right now. Not sure how long it's gonna last but it makes for a fine contrast with some of the last of those torrid and horrid days of Summer.

It'll be a long day. I've got The Patent Attorney in half an hour but then there'll be a huge temporal void until I have The German at 5 this afternoon. Then it'll be a relatively quick lineup of Mrs. Thursday and The Music Man. I'll probably be going out for lunch later on, though I'm not sure where quite yet. May try West Park Cafe in Times Square for the roast chicken.

Japan finally had to get in on the act and sit on the yen like a frustrated tourist on an overstuffed suitcase. It has gone up twice to the 82 yen mark to the dollar. Frustrated tourists from overseas but a lot of happy Japanese ones going the other way.

Wednesday September 15, 10:47 p.m.

Just about ready to pack up for home...only to come back here in several hours to teach The Patent Attorney (sigh). Nice guy, but it's starting to be a drag to have to leave late and come in early.

Miss Sony is always pleasant to talk with...not quite as crazily happy as 001 but still very good at conversing.

At least, I've got a huge donut hole between The PA and The German. So I'll just head on out and enjoy Tokyo.

Wednesday September 15, 8:23 p.m.

The class with 001 was, unsurprisingly, all about attending that big concert of Arashi almost a couple of weeks ago. She had a blast with her friend watching the likes of Aiba-kun and Ono-kun. She only has a few lessons left on her current contract and she's spreading them out. I won't see her for about a month due to work and a trip to Turkey later this month.

Well, Miss Sony's here...

Wednesday September 15, 5:55 p.m.

Finished with The Overachiever an hour ago. Very good for conversation. He seems to have an interest in postwar American culture, if only for his GRE test. He may have given me some hooks for future lessons. Luckily, he has renewed.

It's cooler today although the warmth is still there. But the important thing is that Fall may finally be on its way.

001 should be here in a few minutes. She should have lots to talk about concerning her Arashi concert about a couple of weeks ago. With luck, it could last all class.

Wednesday September 15, 3:45 p.m.

Looks like The Beehive actually hit a jackpot with a new place. From the next time we meet onwards, we will be meeting at a community centre near JR Tsudanuma. So, hopefully, we can have proper classes without having any irate old bitties telling us to be quiet because we're too loud (or Mrs. Alp, to be more accurate).

I'm starting to get that feeling of being slowly phased out at Speedy's. After getting that little talk from the bossman about giving priority to the female staff concering the computers, I'm now in his office typing this since the outer office is now fully occupied. I'm gonna have The Overachiever here in a few minutes, and then it'll be 001 and Miss Sony. I figure I'll have my Saturdays off from January and then in the Spring I'll let Speedy know that I'll be making my way out.

Monday September 13, 9:27 p.m.

Forgot to mention one thing...an obituary of sorts. A veteran fixture of local TV and movies passed away a few days ago. His name was Tani Kei...and I'm giving the name this time in the original Japanese way of family name first, first name last for reasons that will become evident later.

He was a member of an old 50s comedy group/band called The Krazy Kats, and Tani was the trombonist. He came across as a regular portly uncle that would be welcome anytime in anyone's abode and was famous for his catchphrase "Ga-chon!" which, I assume, is the way a 'bone blast would sound. In any case, even when his band broke up, he became a familiar face on television throughout the decades and the last time I saw him, he was doing a cute duet with J-Pop legend Yumi Matsutoya a few years ago.

As for the name, Tani Kei, the comedian formed his nom de plume by shaping it phonetically after US comedian/actor Danny Kaye who was a big thing back in the 50s. I also just found out that he had been the Japanese voice behind Charlie Brown, although I can't understand why they would choose a middle-aged man to voice the world's youngest loser.

Monday September 13, 9:14 p.m.

As it turned out, the e-mail came in from The Medicine Man that he will be AWOL for the duration of September. No reason given but I'm pretty sure that the current troubles with the Superbug at Teikyo University Hospital have something to do with it. In any case, next week is a national holiday so none of us will have to worry about it.

I should get going home. I have to take advantage of this early night off.

Tomorrow will be the election within the Democratic Party of Japan for leader. Will it be PM Kan or shadowmaster Ozawa? It's looking like Kan although this is pretty much a battle for the lesser of two evils.

Monday September 13, 5:47 p.m.

Well, that was a bit of a surprise. All of us realized that after Medicine Man's sudden cancellation last week that he hadn't officially booked for his next lesson. Technically speaking, there is nothing for me after Miss Genki's lesson. Miss Efficiency has called him on his cell (no response, no surprise) and has just sent an e-mail message over to him. He may not be coming at all or he may have done the same as me and just assumed that he had made the reservation. In any case, I am waiting.

Supposedly, The Journo will finally be coming for his first lesson, over a month after his first meeting with me. No cancellation as of yet. But I've got 4 more days to go.

After that Mixi friend's defriending of me last week, I decided to also do a bit of housecleaning of my own as well. I got rid of some more friends that I haven't had any contact with on Facebook and Mixi. I kinda figured like my former friend that if we're not communicating, why are we still sticking around? Divorce, I say!

Monday September 13, 4:50 p.m.

Well, Summer still won't let us go. Not exactly over 35 C, but definitely not below 30 C either. Needed the Gatsby wipes for sure today.

Strangely enough, the request to Speedy for Saturdays off from next January was given the OK. I had half-expected him to put his head in his hands and scream "WHY?!" However, he was cool with it although he did faintly hint at why I hadn't let go of Sundays. But the important thing is that I will have at least one day totally off from 2011, although I will have to sacrifice Miss Prissy, The Publicity Assistant and The Intellectual...all good students; a pity that they'll have to go off my schedule but I need my sanity still there for my remaining time on Earth.

My sessions with The Jyuppies went well. Unlike the last time, Mr. Jyuppie had a good time with me yesterday...whenever he says "Interesting...", it's always a good sign. As for Mrs. Jyuppie, she's starting to show with a little more than 2 months to go before she has her second child. I'm pretty sure that it might be hard to see them from the last half of November onwards, especially if I'm headed back for Toronto. The family invited me for a Sunday brunch on the 26th at a restaurant near their old place in Komazawa Park. It's called The Bowery and Mr. Jyuppie says that it's the probable birthplace of cafe culture in Tokyo, although Starbucks may want to rebut that.

Had my usual crowd so far for Mondays. Cozy was fine with the last test of his first textbook, so I've given him the big Final test before we start up with the next text. Swank and I had our usual kaffeeklatsch/lesson at Roppongi Hills. After that, it was just traipsing through Ginza, especially Yamano Music. There was one somewhat unhinged woman at one of the listening stations just dancing like the animated Sabrina The Teenage Witch. Of course over here, we just ignore her.

I've got Miss Genki and The Medicine Man...supposedly the latter will come, although with this problem of the Superbug killing patients at Teikyo University Hospital and his status as a doctor specializing in infectious diseases, he may just as easily dotakyan tonight.

Finally, Speedy also informed me that since things are getting a bit bigger and hopefully better at the school nowadays, I'll most likely be losing my Most Favored Nation status at my desk and computer since staff and future teachers will be fighting it out to work at it. Apparently, folks like Miss Prim and Miss Efficiency asked the bossman to delicately ask me to see if I could refrain from playing games and blogging so that they can get at it (I rather sinisterly like it when staffers are somewhat afraid of me) for work. Yup, no problems on that but I will take the change as a sign that perhaps my time at Speedy's is slowly coming to a close. I definitely got NOVA vibes when Speedy told me of the situation...and frankly, I'm never gonna enjoy working at a big place ever again.

Saturday September 11, 1:52 p.m.

Hard to believe it's been 9 years since 9/11. Of course, there is always something going on to muck up with the works for reconciliation between Islam and Christianity. For example, that nutball Christian extremist in Florida who wants to burn Qu'rans today. But I think he's rather backed off that literally incendiary display of hate.

Was surprised to hear from The Bass that he'd suffered a motorcycle accident between his concert and yesterday's lesson. He showed me a picture of his cycle...looked pretty totaled. It was a miracle that he came out of it with just some pain all over.

Pretty much stayed within the neighbourhood yesterday. Did some domestic stuff before I went out to The Restauranteur's establishment for the usual Sauteed Chicken. I figure it could be the last time in a while since The Journo, supposedly, will be coming in for lessons from next Friday at 6:30. He's already cancelled twice...considering his job, I can't really be too churlish about it but I just wonder if he'll do another cancellation next week.

I have completed my two lessons with Miss Prissy and The Publicity Agent today. It's gonna be another steamy one out there despite the typhoon and the cool 2 days afterwards back on Wednesday night. We may be done with Summer but Summer is, apparently, not done with us just yet.

But apparently, one of my now-former Mixi friends is done with me. I got a polite letter from this lady who had initially requested my friendship some months ago, which I graciously accepted. However, she sent me a letter this morning stating that she'll be de-friending me since there really wasn't much going between us and that she prefers to have Mixi friends who want to keep up a steady dialogue. Perfectly understandable...I never really could comment on her entries and she only commented on mine a couple of times when I'd written about some food I'd had and stating that I should watch my weight. I kinda noticed then that perhaps the lady wouldn't be commenting too much longer. I have to say though, that she was very nice about cutting off ties with me by sending me that letter. I would've just cut any people I no longer wanted without saying a thing. In fact, I've already de-friended a number of people on Facebook in the same way.

I'll be heading off to National Azabu Supermarket just to get a Mennen's Speed Stick. Yes, I have to go all the way to Hiroo just to pick up a deodorant since the Japanese variety isn't anywhere strong enough. I may even pick up a big can of Campbell's Soup there for dinner tonight.

Tomorrow, I've just got The Jyuppies but Mr. Jyuppie is a concern since he didn't really like the lesson a couple of weeks ago. I'll have to take a look at what I've got.

And I'm about to send a letter to Speedy asking him to take me off of Saturday lessons once the new year starts. I'm just getting tired of doing 3-week stints without a single day off. I would definitely miss folks such as Miss Prissy but my mind could use the weekly break.

Thursday September 9, 2:10 p.m.

The Photog was his usual loosey-goosey self. Managed to go through a whole rigamarole of topics before I asked him whether he was satisfied with this stream-of-consciousness type of lesson. He said he was OK with it, although he did acknowledge that perhaps he was too OK with it. Miss Efficiency suggested some homework assignments although I'm not sure if the lad will have the energy, time or desire to complete it.

Then, Miss Efficiency and I had a talk on our grand poobah, the bossman. I, of 6 years' acquaintance, while she has known him for as many weeks. There was a bit of griping (and some praise) about him...the usual stuff: his anal-ity and his general stubborness. And Efficiency talked about how much happier her predecessor Ray felt after she finally finished her stint at Speedy's. Apparently, the bossman has been trying to contact her for several days just to make sure she was doing OK, while Ray has been trying to avoid contact with him so that she can completely decompress.

Thursday September 9, 11:31 a.m.

Since it's just Miss Efficiency and me in the school right now, she has been engaging me in conversation off-and-on over the course of the past hour. I found out that she's quite the spiritualist so words like "synchronicity" and "enneagrams" have been bandied about. The latter I'd never heard about, and the former I knew just as the title of a hit song by The Police. In any case, Miss Efficiency is somewhat mellower about her beliefs than that of my former friend, The Mademoiselle...a bit of a psycho, that one.

Thursday September 9, 10:03 a.m.

Well, it looks like we may have gotten our Fall. Heading home last night and coming into work this morning, it was actually pleasantly cool. Still didn't need a jacket but didn't have any need to pull out a handkerchief even once either.

That 24-hour transition period of tons of rain kinda felt as if Mother Nature finally got fed up with Heat Meister and just blasted him with the massive precip as punishment. Somewhere Heat Meister is pouting and reflecting on 6 weeks of tropical torture. In any case, I'm not complaining. I would be quite happy not to see him again for another several months. Apparently JR Chiba Station got very flooded last night. However, when I came out of the school last night, it was wet outside but very walkable and the same was true for my neighbourhood.

The Tiny Dancer and her family have made their homecoming back to Toronto after several years in England. I got word from her this morning that they've moved into their new digs. But they're planning to come back to Japan for one of her troupe's dance recitals, and she was interested in visiting The Studio Ghibli Museum in Mitaka. Getting tickets there is somewhat akin to visiting The Pentagon...you can reserve tickets 3 months ahead and you can only go on a day designated by the museum; you have no choice in the matter. Plus, you're not allowed to bring any sort of camera equipment. The museum insists that the displays are to be recorded through the eyes (can I roll mine?) and the mind.

Wednesday September 8, 10:42 p.m.

Another long day has come to an end...a rather meterologically significant end. My day started out sweating over to the subway station...just like every day since late July. But between then and now, we had some major dumpings of rain on The Big Sushi as a result of former typhoon-turned-tropical storm 9 which finally brought down the temperature to a far more reasonable level, and turned several areas of the city into gigantic pools. Luckily, I was here dry and sound at Speedy's for the duration. It felt like a welcome blast of Fall, though we are still 2 weeks away from that heady day, when I went out to get dinner from the conbini. Not quite sure what tomorrow will bring, but I know that I will be looking forward to a far drier sleep tonight.

Gonna have just three lessons tomorrow. The Patent Attorney will be coming in....I think it's safe to say that there won't be any risk of disruption of commuting due to typhoon. And then I've got The Photog once more at noon, before I go off and see The Carolinan later in the evening. I also have to get Cozy's new text and CD ordered at Kinokuniya as well.

Anyways, time to go home in rather comfortable surroundings.

Wednesday September 8, 7:18 p.m.

Just had my dinner of fried chicken and fried rice...yep, not healthy.

But the big thing is when I stepped out to head over to the convenience store....it was COOL! As in refreshingly cool...the wind hit me and I didn't automatically break out in a sweat. I haven't felt that way since early July. I hope that this is a harbinger of things to come meterologically.

As you can imagine from the time, 001 is not here. She's got some sort of work-related thingie. I was kinda hoping to hear how her Arashi concert was.

Wednesday September 8, 6:11 p.m.

It's certainly been quite a different Speedy's since Miss Efficiency came in last month. I have to admit that after a little bit of uncertainty in the first week or so, she's settled in just fine. I do miss Ray but Miss Efficiency has given the school quite a bit more push with her business know-how. She's even given people like Miss London and La Fille tips on tagging potential customers through cold calling, something that Ray (and me) would avoid like the plague. And she's definitely gotten along with some of the other new staff. We've got Miss Sussex who was also in the UK for a few years like Miss London (but doesn't have as much of a British accent as Miss London). There is also Miss Prim who at first appearance looks like a stern headmistress with her glasses and tied-back hair but she's actually quite friendly. And the bossman has brought yet another staffer for the future school...a young lady who looks like she's dressed for teaching kindergarten. I gather that the moniker Miss Kindergarten will have to do.

Still not sure what the weather is like outside...it sounds like the rain has stopped but there is still that 12-hour window in which Typhoon 9 will track across the Kanto.

Some happy news in the world of entertainment. One of my few favourite Japanese actresses, Eri Fukatsu, grabbed Top Actress honours at the Montreal Film Festival the night before for a movie that's gotten a lot of trailer play at the theatres and will finally be released this Saturday called "Akunin" ("Villain"). Scoring this prize is certainly not gonna hurt ticket sales this weekend. For me, though, she'll always be feisty, suffer-no-fools, Sgt. Sumire Onda from the "Odoru Dai Sosasen" series. Didn't really like the latest entry that I saw earlier in the summer, but it looks like Fukatsu has made for all that with this starring role. Kinda wonder if the movie itself may see some Oscar potential like "Okuribito" did a couple of years back.

Wednesday September 8, 4:38 p.m.

Managed to survive The Photog...he's a nice guy but his stream-of-consciousness approach to learning English is pretty wearying. The squalls due to Typhoon No. 9 have been coming in and out. Right now, we've got a respite but not quite sure what the rest of the night will bring. I now just have Miss Sony and that won't be for almost 4 hours. Speedy and I were discussing the possibility of having to cancel The Patent Attorney's lesson tomorrow morning just in case the Tozai Line decides to stop service due to high winds, but at this point, it looks like things should be OK.

I've been in contact with another blogger via Mixi, although her actual blog is on this site. She's kinda like the antipodean version of me in that she's a Japanese living in Toronto. Not sure if she'll respond positively since any schmo can contact her.

Wednesday September 8, 2:15 p.m.



Just a generic image of a typhoon wreaking havoc on East Asia, but it might as well be Typhoon No. 9, which is really entering Japan at this moment. For the first time in a month, we've actually gotten something that looks like precipitation...and it's coming down in buckets. For an area that bordered on desert conditions, this is quite the godsend. The eye should be coming over The Kanto overnight so I'm wondering what transportation will be like tomorrow since I have the early class with The Patent Attorney.

Met up with The Beehive, sans Mrs. Travel who's off in Switzerland. So, it was Mrs. Tee, Mrs. Alp and Mrs. Jade, whom we hadn't seen in almost 2 months since she's been a bit sensitive to the heat wave. Looks like that talk about moving venues is starting to gain steam. Mrs. Alp approached Mrs. Jade about having the lesson once a month at The Spring Hotel cafe in Makuhari-Messe, but Jade didn't look too enthused about that due to commuting reasons. So, Alp is now thinking about renting a room at Funabashi City Hall. I'm keeping my fingers crossed since it would be really nice if we could actually have real lessons again without worrying about ticking off some coffee drinker at the next table.

Now that Sugar N' Spice and Mr. Nice Guy have flown the coop, I have my veterans of The Milds and Mr. White as my Tuesday night core. The Milds took another road trip up into the wilds of Takayama over the weekend. They said that even there, temperatures were soaring into the high 30s. No respite for the weary.

I've gone through half of my lessons today already with Grandma Enka and The Businesswoman under my belt (no snickering). Grandma Enka had just come back from Singapore with her family, and got me the typical omiyage in the form of some cookies. Would love to go to Singapore someday. All that well-ordered urbanism holds some appeal to me.

The Photog should be here in about 15 minutes, and then it'll be a few hours before Miss Sony comes by for the final slot.

Monday September 6, 9:25 p.m.

Well, I gotta thank The Medicine Man. Called up with 9 minutes to spare before his lesson was to begin to cancel it. Got my money without so much as lifting a page. And Miss Genki and I had a grand old time chatting about extracting tonsils and Japanese girl groups of the present (hello, AKB 48) and past (hi there, Morning Musume and Onyanko Club); just cannot complain about this state of affairs. And for the past hour, Miss London and I have been exchanging YouTube videos of British comedians.

Monday September 6, 6:23 p.m.

Finally had a listen to the "Inception" soundtrack last night about a week after I'd bought it at Tower Records. Hans Zimmer, who seems to have inherited the mantle of Master Movie Soundtrack Composer from John Williams, has made a slightly zippier contribution when compared to "The Dark Knight". Some critics have stated that it could also be an extension to the second Batman movie; but I think the music is sufficiently different that it is its own animal.

Then, it was to something completely different with my latest Miharu Koshi disc that I got from Recomints. "Boy Soprano" seems to be the third in the triumvirate of 80s techno CDs that she'd released after "Tutu" and "Parallelisme". "Boy Soprano" is well-titled since in some of the tracks, Koshi sounds like a castralto. And there seems to be a bit of transition that came into play since she sings German for a couple of the tracks...a pattern that got more pronounced in later discs such as "Father and the Pistol" in 1990.

Met Yajima for the first time in a month in Den'en-Chofu. He and his wife had a trip to Australia earlier last month. He definitely sounds more confident and assured in his delivery but for the meantime, my services are still needed.

It looks like the gang is coming back together. After my time with Cozy this morning, I saw Swank...also for the first time in a month at Roppongi Hills. A lot of the time, she was haranguing about the principal at her daughters' school in terms of how they're being educated. I don't know both sides of the story but I did try to sympathize with her. I think the fates may have decided that she had spoken enough since her drink then decided to spill itself all over her dress. I did receive those souvenirs via their month-long trip in Hawaii. I got an Abercrombie & Fitch T-shirt; Swank had the good observational powers to know that I was at least an XL.

Then, it was The New Yorker who had also been absent for about a month. She and her sister, The Carolinan, had gone to see "Inception" on The New Yorker's birthday. But The New Yorker slept through most of it since she'd had gone drinking the night before until about 5 a.m. And "Inception" is definitely a movie that needs a fully alert mind.

I've just got Miss Genki and then The Medicine Man tonight. I also a couple of cancellations for this week's worth of classes. First off, The Overachiever has canned his lesson this week. And I got a message from the juku boss stating that new student, The Journo, has once again put off his inaugural lesson this Friday. Well, at least, I can have dinner at The Restauranteur's later that evening.