Monday February 28, 2:51 p.m.

Just when the Haru Ichiban winds brought virtually summer-like conditions to the Kanto on Friday, The New Yorker and I encounter wet snow outside in Shinjuku today. The Little Dancer, my old university clubmate, was remarking on the weird weather in Tokyo. I had thought she was a bit off the mark, but when I saw the fluffy stuff descending on me an hour ago, I thought a bit of Toronto meterology had arrived in The Big Sushi. I just wonder if there will be a repeat of the snowstorm of 2 weeks ago.

In any case, I'm typing this over at the Shinjuku Kinko's and am probably gonna end up paying 1,000 yen for just the hour. But I do this since when I finish with Mr. Swank, I have to rush back to Speedy's and do a tripleheader with Ms. Prissy, Ms. Genki and Kirk. No time for any recreational blogging. Plus, I gotta do a quick prep for The Overachiever's lesson on Wednesday.

Bay is back in town after several months in Seattle. She actually lives there now with her hubby, so she's just visiting. After The Overachiever's lesson on Wednesday, I'm planning to meet up with her and La Fille for a late lunch....presumably in Shinjuku. I'm only half-joking when I say that it'll be a gripe session. I'm sure Bay will hear about Ms. Efficiency's reign of terror.

Just read the results of The Oscars which have just finished. I'm assuming the stars are now drinking and dancing it up at Swifty Lazar's or at some LA hotspot. No big surprises...."The King's Speech" scored the important awards and Natalie Portman got Best Actress. It was nice to hear Christian Bale got Best Supporting Actor in "The Fighter". And "Inception", my favorite movie of 2010, got 4 awards although they were of the technical variety.

Not sure what this week will bring.

Friday February 25, 9:52 a.m.

My professional day today is just 1 hour and 15 minutes long, and that will take place much later in the evening at the juku. I'll just have the boss and The Restauranteur for their lessons. Since Swank's frantic re-scheduling call yesterday, I've got virtually the entire day free. So I am here at the I-Cafe for the next few hours. Then, I'll be stopping off at Maruzen to see if I can pick up a textbook for the newest student at the juku before heading into Akiba to pick up cologne. Yep, you heard me...there is a duty-free shop on the main drag that sells cheapo...and most likely fake...scented water. The Iconoclast, my old friend from years back and one of The Anime King's court, is heading over here sometime next month and has asked me if I could pick up a couple of prepaid phones with charged cards. I'm not quite sure if I can pick up two since the authorities are pretty antsy about who gets the phones. I have to provide a picture ID and a Japanese address which I can do...for one phone. Apparently, in the past, the prepaid phones have been used for illicit activities here.

Speaking about that latest student at the juku, she's this young lady whose hobbies include juggling. That would be a first for me. Also, I heard from the boss that one of her motivations for studying English is that the lass had had a rather traumatic experience at US Immigration at one of the airports there...I would say that she is far from alone in that respect. But I think she needs to get her groove back for speaking English. I intend to help her in my mission. It almost sounds like the plot from "The King's Speech". Mrs. Travel from The Beehive went to see the preview screening on Tuesday so it won't be long before the probable Oscar winner will get full release here. It's definitely on my must-see list.

Speaking of students, I subbed for Speedy and taught The Magician for the first time in several months on Wednesday afternoon. She requested some help for her English introduction for a show that she was to have performed yesterday at an onsen in Kurashiki. So I gave her my finest showtime intro. I also gave her some help in her banter while she performed her trick of Rings. At one point, she was to say that she needed some hana no abura to help out in multiplying the number of rings in her hands. Basically, she was referring to the oil or sweat on her nose...which I could only gather was a Japanese thing in magicians' circles. Basically, I could only translate it as "nose oil"....not exactly a very desirable expression to say to a foreign audience (apparently, The Magician said that her audience in the hot spring would be two-thirds non-Japanese), but it was certainly better than the alternative, "nose powder". I didn't want her to give the shocking impression that cocaine was involved, although it has been used for some other "magical" experiences.

I also spoke with La Fille as we made our way to the subway last night after the school closed up for the night. She confided that she would be leaving Speedy's in June; her departure had been known for some time but not the exact when. I then told her that I would be leaving the school in the same month. She also pointed out that she would definitely not miss the fireworks between Miss Efficiency and the bossman....something that finally drove Ray out to Germany. We did get some photos from Ray, by the way...looks like the smiles have come back to her. More beer and less stress will do that to one.

Friday February 25, 9:35 a.m.

Lovely day here....going up to a bloody balmy 19 C! Of course, as with all things in life, there are consequences. Over here, that means the cedar pollen will be billowing everywhere in the Kanto because of the newfound warmth. Indeed, Hay Fever Season has come. When I was putting out the laundry on the line, I immediately got that little tickle in my nose which signified that some of those grains had infiltrated my nasal cavities like so much Al Qaeda in Libya...that is, if Colonel Qaddafi can be believed. It's almost surreal how the Middle East and North Africa have been changing in the last few weeks. If anyone had told me around Christmas that governments in Egypt and Libya would be falling, I would have probably accused them of working for "The National Enquirer". Instead, Muammar is looking more and more like a dissipated despot grabbing for the few marbles that he has left.

It has indeed been a very busy week for world media. Not only has The Middle East situation been keeping CNN and BBC up at night, but then there is the Christchurch Earthquake. The media coverage on an internationally comparative level has been interesting, to say the least. The two world news services have started the inevitable transition in language by reporting that the rescue mission is sliding into a recovery one. CNN was especially quite stark by stating Christchurch police reports that they are "100% certain" that noone is now alive in the rubble that used to be the CTV Building. That building also housed a language school with a good number of Japanese students. Obviously, the Japanese media here has swarmed into New Zealand to cover the story, including my own Journo. I saw his report on TV this morning. What has been interesting is that I have yet to hear any Japanese journalist state as baldly as CNN has that there are no survivors; I don't think they have even mentioned that things are looking bleak now that 72 hours have passed. Perhaps that this may be a cultural trait in that the Japanese favor harmony above all else, including truth. But as has been the case in past major earthquakes in the world, miracles have happened. Someone was found in a mass of concrete shards in the last big quake in China a few years ago, about a full week after it had occurred. At this point, miracles will need to happen.

Thursday February 24, 9:27 p.m.

Gonna be the "Doctor Who" fan next and say that he will miss the ol' Brig. I just read that Nicholas Courtney who had played Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart in the original series, passed away a couple of days ago at the age of 81. The "Five Rounds Rapid" guy was basically an honorary companion of the Doctor's although he never really traveled in the TARDIS but was one of the leading figures in the show, notably during The Third Doctor's time in the early 70s. I'm sure he will be sorely missed by all of the Whovians.

On a happier note, The Tenth Doctor's David Tennant has gotten hitched with Georgia Moffett, daughter of The Fifth Doctor, Peter Davison. The intriguing part is not the fact that Georgia will have one parent and one husband who were Doctors Who, but that the future wife of David had played his daughter in the show.

Anyways, I'm done here for tonight. Mrs. Thursday was fine as usual. She'll be away next week since she's celebrating the Hina Festival on the 3rd. I'm just waiting for La Fille to shut things down since she doesn't have the key and the bossman will be several minutes away from coming back home.

Thursday February 24, 7:25 p.m.

I finally got through the entire series of the original "Get Smart" last night. All 5 seasons done. I've connected all the dots amongst the hazy images of scenes I remember from that final season which never got aired beyond its original run...at least, not in Toronto. So I finally got to see the 99 doppelganger, what was up with the Chief and Larrabee taking care of the twins, and the massive hospital brawl while 99 was delivering her kids.

Still, I think it was good that it ended when it did. Final scenes of the final season episodes basically just had Max and/or 99 staring cow-eyed at the camera a bit too much, and it was Larrabee, a character who was virtually mute for half the series, who got the final words of the entire opus.

And still I have yet to finish my entire stash of DVDs from Canada. Mind you, I'll be going through "SCTV" once again. I think there are still "Futurama" and "Robot Chicken" to watch.

I've come back from Shinjuku Starbucks after my lesson with The Carolinan there. I had their Zacher Torte, aka the Chocolate Hockey Puck, along with a tall Caffe Latte. That torte is good but it sits in your stomach like vulcanized rubber.

So, all I have left is Mrs. Thursday. A pretty nice way to end the evening. We haven't spoke on her favorite program, "NCIS" since there haven't been any new episodes and she isn't too keen on the spinoff. But we did have that talk on American TV dinners. I kinda wonder if she did check out National Azabu Supermarket in Hiroo.

Thursday February 24, 12:43 p.m.

Had a 90-minute lesson with Grandma FON. There had been some fears that the ol' gal wouldn't be able to hold up but not a problem. She just kept up the steady stream of conversation like a pro. A very pleasant way to earn 5,000 yen.

As Thursdays go, not too bad a schedule. I've got The Shareholder....and since I have him in the proper classroom today, he should be a lot less jittery than last week. And then I've got The Carolinan in Shinjuku at 5 instead of her customary 6:30 (I decided to circumvent any potential problems with Ms. Efficiency by changing places) before wrapping up with Mrs. Thursday.

Actually, I'm gonna end up with a pretty sparse Friday. I was supposed to see Swank for the first time in over a month tomorrow at the usual place in Roppongi Hills but she frantically called up a couple of hours ago to state that she has to head to work tomorrow and so has to re-schedule to next Tuesday. This means that I've got nothing until that lone hour or so with the juku boss and The Restauranteur late tomorrow night.

Wednesday February 23, 2:43 p.m.

I just had The Overachiever now. He's always been very amiable and very willing to talk. However, I had a brief scare when he told me that he wanted to just do TOEFL Interview practice instead of the interview practice for his universities. However, the ol' brain kicked in to dredge up some questions.

I'm taking care of The Magician in about 15 minutes since Speedy can't teach her. It should be OK, although I don't think there's all that much chemistry between us. It'll be another early night for me since 001 won't be coming in tonight.

Heard about the Christchurch Quake yesterday afternoon. The Milds had just been there less than a fortnight ago on their latest vacation. They have their professor friend living just a few kilometres away from the downtown area in New Zealand. My students were worried about how their friend is but they're taking things in stride. As usual, the Japanese media are doing a full court press on the story since our country is also on The Ring of Fire.

Wednesday February 23, 12:21 p.m.

Well, I finally went to the Fatgroove, that new restaurant in Minami-Aoyama that serves the famed (or infamous) turducken. I was walking around the neighborhood for half an hour since I got there rather early from Shibuya on foot. Minami-Aoyama was frankly rather quiet which will figure large later in my critique.

At 5:30 p.m. I went into the basement where Fatgroove was located. I was the first one in there...and would be the only one in there for the duration of my 90 minutes inside. The interior was nice....kinda like a mix between a well-appointed Western bar and a trendy restaurant. My waiter, who would also end up being my culinary guide and conversation partner since I was the only customer, told me about the 2,800-yen "Order Biking" deal which I went for, since I couldn't get the turducken if I'd gone a la carte. Now, the wording of "Order Biking" must sound like something to do with La Tour De France. Actually, it was supposed to say on the menu "Order Viking" which will sound to all you readers now like something to do with ancient Norwegians. "Viking" over here refers to a buffet, since decades ago the Imperial Viking restaurant in Tokyo's Imperial Hotel apparently started the first all-you-can-eat deal. During my culinary odyssey, I jotted down something for my host to amend that unfortunate wording...."order-as-much-as-you-want" for 2 hours at 2,800 yen.

The turducken came out first. In the METROPOLIS review for this restaurant, the reviewer posed the question, "Is Tokyo ready for Turducken?" Well, up above is the photo of what Fatgroove's image of turducken is: a thin slice of the layered turkey, duck and chicken with a drizzling of au jus and some sauteed vegetables on the side. The average American would take a look at this and either accidentally inhale it or just look at it with some shock. I'd been expecting something a little more bigger....something that would match the presentation of the stuff back in a state like Alabama. As it was, it just struck me as being the ryotei version. So, my answer to the reviewer is "Yep, no doubts....even Tokyo women would be more than ready for this version of turducken".

During the course of my time there, I ended up stuffing down 9 or 10 plates including the turducken, and yep I was stuffed. I think my waiter was worried that I was the Japanese equivalent of Homer Simpson. But I finally did cry "Uncle" after gulping down my plate of chocolate cake. There was the Margarita Pizza, the Caesar Salad, the Spring Rolls, etc. Now, before you remain stuck on that image of Homer, I would like to say that the portions were not quite that big....which brings up the first potential weakness of this ambitious restaurant. I think the name FATGROOVE and the logo of a humongous fellow would probably put off any potential (female) clientele from walking down those stairs, when in actual fact, these were dishes that anyone could share and scarf down.

The other big problem is the drink pricing. Drinks are not included in the Order Viking. And even for a Coke or a coffee, it'll be 650 yen...$7 US! Man, even over here, that would seem like a ripoff even when the first drink is free. Definitely, go for that cocktail but then there are those who eschew the alky. That Order Viking deal may not sound all that great anymore.

Then, there is the location. In the METROPOLIS article, it was mentioned that there had been two other restaurants in that same spot that hadn't lasted too long. Yup, Fatgroove is located on a pretty quiet side street. I did mention that even the main street in Minami-Aoyama looked rather dead. Now, it was a Sunday so people would usually stay at home for dinner on that day, but I'm just worried about how it may be like on the weeknights. I don't think even the gimmick of turducken (especially when the turducken comes out as it is in this place) will bring in the crowds to such a place....definitely not walk-ins.

Having said that, the service was good and the food itself was pretty nice. If it weren't for that drink price....

Monday February 21, 5:40 p.m.

One of the wonderful things about my newfound (if income-less) freedom on Saturdays is that I can sleep in and just chill out. And so it was that I was also able to come across "The Apartment" on cable at last. One of my Mixi buddies, who actually goes by the moniker C.C. Baxter, highly recommended this movie. Never actually found it at the Sale DVD store in Akihabara or even back in Toronto for that matter, so it was with some good luck that I just happened on the channel in the middle of the opening credits.

Having come off his most successful picture in "Some Like It Hot" with Jack Lemmon, Billy Wilder batted another home run with the same Lemmon in "The Apartment" in 1960. Shot in black & white (the last movie of its sort to win the Best Picture Oscar despite the existence of color films for several years). Unlike his role in "Some Like It Hot" (which I have yet to see), Lemmon plays a somewhat more low-key nebbishy cog, C.C. Baxter, in the machine who is forced to run a proto-love hotel of sorts to get up in the ranks. And then he gets that well-needed kick in the pants when he falls for no-nonsense-but-vulnerable Fran Kubelik, the elevator girl, who's in a destructive relationship with sociopathic boss Mr. Sheldrake.

I've certainly known about actors like Shirley McClaine, Jack Lemmon and Fred MacMurray for decades. Jack Lemmon has always been the original Felix Unger on cinema, but my memories of McClaine have recently been more on the fact that she's a scary interviewee and a spirit channeler. And Fred MacMurray has always been the benevolent father on TV's "My Three Sons", so it's been quite the revelation that he'd had a movie career as a bland slimeball on flicks such as this one and "Mutiny on the Caine".

Just like the two leads, the film struck me as being charming and wholly sympathetic, despite being engaged in activity that would've turned heads back in 1960. When I came across the film on Saturday, I was ready to get some laundry done along with some other household errands; it would be a couple of hours before I picked up so much as a finger.

Strangely enough, a Japanese director whose name always escapes me has been a huge Wilder fan, and his films have often reflected his idol's style. And over a decade ago, he actually came up with a 12-episode comedy-drama series that was an homage to "The Apartment" right down to the casting type and its placement in New York City. Takaaki Ishibashi, the actor who had played the wacko Japanese baseball player in the last two of the "Major League" series, was the Sheldrake equivalent. I found it pretty good although it got killed in the ratings since even back in the late 90s, J-dramas had already decided they could only get big from the teen audience.

Thursday February 17, 3:11 p.m.

The 4-hour break between The Artist and Mrs. Prissy is helping me get some stuff done such as prep for tomorrow's lessons at the juku. I have yet to receive any cancellation order from the juku boss concering The Journo, so I'm assuming that he'll be ready to go. I've also been able to check the translation response from Cozy. Basically I'm ready to go for Prissy and the evening lessons.

So I may just have some fun with the Mixi photos.

Dollface came by...the first time and last time I'll probably see her. It was only her second time to visit the new Speedy's since she worked at the kids' school. Her first time was during the big move. She has finished her time with us and will be heading to Hawaii for at least 3 months to help out in a musical there. The bossman told me that he'd been aware that her time at Speedy's would be temporary....just to help launch the kids' school. She left us with some scrumptious cakes....love Japanese culinary tradition.

I bought the latest issue of TIME Magazine back on Monday at Kinokuniya. The cover story definitely peaked my interest: Singularity. Nope, it wasn't about my lone wolf marital status nor had it anything to do with a "Star Trek" or a "Doctor Who" episode. It came across as science-fiction possibly becoming science fact. Singularity, as coined by eccentric scientist Raymond Kurzweil (one wonders if "Ghostbusters" Ray Stantz had been named after him), is "the moment when technological change becomes so rapid and profound, it represents a rupture in the fabric of human history." As it is laid out in the magazine, it apparently refers to the hybridization of Man and Machine by the year 2045.

As a self-confessed geek who sometimes checks in for updates on "Orion's Arm" and who has a passing interest in futurism, I was rather intrigued by the possibilities of what might happen to us in the next few decades. I will be 80 years of age in 2045 so there's a fairly good chance that I will be around....whether it'll be in a retirement home or under a bridge, I'll leave that up to fate. However, Kurzweil will not. He's been on a daily regimen of hundreds of pills just so that he'll be able to make it 2045 in the further hopes that his soul/mind will be uploadable into a computer for immortality. Mind you, he himself will be 98...an age that is no longer seen as impossible...and especially in this country, it's an age that can be considered certainly attainable; Japan is a nation which may boast the highest number of centenarians even now. We can all imagine...barring any major natural or man-made disaster...how many 100-year-olds will be around in the mid-21st century.

Having said that, there was one section in the article which referred to a group of folks who were very attuned to the concept of Singularity. That group kinda struck me as being a bit on the cultish side. And once again, referring to this country, cults aren't exactly seen as being too harmless...et tu, Aum Shinrikyo? And despite the recorded evidence of the exponentially rising speed of technological progress, to place the moment of Man's greatest Technological Leap in history in a year that's decades away just strikes me as being a bit too sensationalistic on the level of a Y2K scare. It's certainly interesting to ponder but I rather doubt I'll be waiting exultantly in my wheelchair by a USB port ready to be sucked into a digital Eden.

Thursday February 17, 12:49 p.m.

Well, The Artist wasn't all that late after all. After having called us up to say that she overshot her transfer station, she managed to stumble in just 5 minutes late. Kept the lesson nice and happy. Found out that next lesson will be her last on her current contract, so she'll have to talk with the parentals about whether to renew or not.

One down, three to go.

I may have mentioned about this relatively new restaurant which opened up in tony Minami-Aoyama called Fatgroove. And as the name intimates, it is an all-you-can-eat place for 2,800 yen, not a bad price at all in this burg. It also has the southern American dish, known as turducken....the Matrioshka Doll of Western cuisine since it involves stuffing a chicken inside a duck which is inside a giant turkey for a major roast. I'm frankly not sure how a behemoth like this will play inside the behemoth of cities, although over the past several years, buffet restaurants and burger joints have swept through Tokyo like a major typhoon. Still, the gimmick factor is there...and Tokyoites do love a gimmick.

I may give it a try sometime this weekend....perhaps after my lessons with The Jyuppies this Sunday.

Thursday February 17, 10:45 a.m.

With The Patent Attorney out of the daily equation, I actually don't have a Hump Day Thursday; just 4 lessons. I've got The Artist, followed by Miss Prissy, Mrs. Thursday and then The Music Man to clean up as usual. And The Artist has just sent her usual phone call to say that she will be late since she got lost at Tameike-Sanno Station (a big station, to be sure); I just said that well, she's an artist.

A couple of weeks ago, La Fille came to me in some frustration to state that Ms. Efficiency got a bit snippy at her about some sort of administrative function. Basically, it seems that a snip from Efficiency has become a trial-by-fire for all staff here. Now, Ms. Efficiency has just come to me admitting that she's a bit intimidated by La Fille because La Fille seems to come across as being some sort of impatient know-it-all....which rather surprises me since La Fille has always been very sweet. However, I do realize that being an administrator and being a teacher are two rather different things. I concealed some mirth at Efficiency's admission. Not sure what I'll do....just stay out of it or talk a bit with La Fille later tonight.

Thursday February 17, 10:22 a.m.

Back at Speedy's after a very rare Wednesday in which I didn't have to head to the school at all. The Overachiever had to cancel, and since 001 couldn't make it last night, I only had The New Yorker over at Shinjuku Starbucks. And then Ms. Efficiency called me up to inform me that The Patent Attorney had to bail this morning due to a cold, so I was spared the usual Thursday early-morning departure. Not too bad.

So I had the fine pleasure of watching the last of my discs in Volume 3 of "SCTV". Got to see the season finale of "The Days of the Week"...which is actually growing on me as I review it for the first time in a couple of decades. Then the disc had a roundtable discussion amongst the cast at some television museum in California back in 1997, some 14 years ago and some 13 years after the very last SCTV episode had aired in the mid-1980s. There were some great moments in the discussion, including a hilarious Andrea Martin moment in which she impersonated the disfigured Ralph Fiennes from "The English Patient".

However, along with the accolades, there were a few awkward moments which just shows that these comedians are very human after all. One was when Catherine O'Hara not-so-smoothly remarked that the day of the roundtable was the anniversary of John Candy's death. She quickly tried to lift things up by also stating that it was also her birthday...which didn't quite work. I guess her improvisational gifts couldn't quite help her out there. In addition, there just seemed to be a bit of tension amongst some of the cast members, notably Eugene Levy who has struck me as being rather tense in the commentaries, especially with the very jovial Joe Flaherty. And then, Rick Moranis stated that the move back to Toronto from Edmonton was the beginning of the end...which may have struck Martin Short a bit since he had joined from the Magder Studios era. Still, I'd have to concur with Moranis' assessment, though Martin Short did bring a marvelous Jerry Lewis, Brock Linehan, Ed Grimley and Robin Williams. It was also notable that even though Robin Duke was up there on the stage, she ended up just being a middle-aged audience member.

Basically, though, when a huge cast comes back for a reunion, I think some family-like discomfiting moments are inevitable. "Star Trek" reunions with the cast on CNN and ABC several years' back were certainly no exception to this rule.

I've enjoyed Volume 3 so much that I've gone back to re-view Volume 1's discs.

Tuesday February 15, 2:58 p.m.

On Sunday, after my lesson with Yajima, I met up with MB and The Sylph in front of Den'en-Chofu Station, and we all went to Katsukyu. It was the second time I'd been to this tonkatsu restaurant just down the road from the station.

It's a fairly narrow place but there were actually not too many people in there at the time and by the time we got our dishes, the place was nearly deserted. I don't think it was because of the quality of the food since it was pretty high on my list. I had the hire katsu course which consists of a leaner cut of pork. I've been pretty much dedicated to hire for the past several years since I now find rosu as just being a bit too oily for even a glutton like me.

The interesting thing for me is that instead of one big hunk of deep-fried pork, I got my dish with three smaller pieces. Perhaps it's just perception but I was somewhat more satisfied with this arrangement. And of course, I had all the rice, shredded cabbage and miso soup I can down, although with all this pork, the one order of sides was all I could fit.

Tuesday February 15, 1:20 p.m.

Yep, this was the scene outside my apartment last night and this morning. Over a period of 9 hours, the Kanto got walloped (by Kanto standards, that is) with some unforecast heavy snow on Valentine's Day of all days. One would think that a new holiday should arise called "Chrismatine Day". But of course, what I haven't shown you is that it's going up to 11 C and 90% of the white stuff has disappeared. That is the efficiency of Tokyo weather. Snow doesn't shrink and blacken into stuff that ought to be carbon-dated like in Toronto. It never overstays its welcome.

Last night, as the white stuff was initially floating down, I had Miss Genki for the first time in about 3 weeks. She hadn't been too genki during her absence since she had been wrestling with a lingering cold but she was in good enough shape to have her lesson. Meanwhile, Kirk was his usual talkative self...got into a good conversation about the Egyptian situation.

Today, since I don't have The Beehive today, I could get 8 hours of shuteye. I just have the juku classes, although I am keeping my ear ready for any further cancellations by Mr. White. If he does come, it'll be the first time in almost a month that I've had a normal Tuesday night there. The Milds are back from New Zealand, so I'm figuring that the lesson will be on their trip to Mordor.

I got word from Ms. Efficiency that The Overachiever has canned his lesson for tomorrow, which means that I effectively have no classes at Speedy's on Wednesday, which is about as rare as a major snowfall in Tokyo, but apparently both have happened. Perhaps it may be time to buy that lottery ticket. However, I have The New Yorker in Shinjuku, so no midweek coccooning for me.

Monday February 14, 6:27 p.m.

Yep, it's Valentine's Day today...and I did get my fair share of chocolates and other sweets over the past few days from folks like Skippy and Swank. It means that I'll have to return the favor in a month. I'm gonna have to budget.

Speaking of things that are red, we had the Movie Gang's first major outing on Saturday when MB, The Wedding Planner, Skippy and I caught "RED" at the Picadilly. However, "RED" was frankly more off-pink; in other words, it wasn't quite the crazed blockbuster that I'd hoped I would get. I think MB put it best when he said that the movie tried to reach for things that it couldn't quite attain. The acting talent was there but there wasn't much good red meat to chew on. MB and The Satyr had caught "The Green Hornet" earlier in the week, and it was basically the same for that movie as well....some good ideas but not much in the execution department. I guess movies with colorful titles might be a bit faded this year...which doesn't bode well for "The Green Lantern".

Afterwards, the four of us went to Moyan Curry, that curry place in Shinjuku that boasts of huge portions and very hot spice levels. Actually, we went to the 2nd branch since the main one is inexplicably closed on Saturdays. The food was still great, though. I'm definitely gonna have to demote myself lower next time since it seems that I can't even handle the regular size anymore; mind you, their "regular size" is about the size of a medium pizza.

After the girls left, I had my first sleepover of the year at MB's place, although we didn't actually catch a DVD until late into the next day....after my lesson with Yajima and lunch over at a local tonkatsu place in Den'en-Chofu. We saw "Jonah Hex" which never made it onto the big screens here in Tokyo and went straight to DVD. Our expectations were about as low as a centipede's belly due to the critical drubbing it had received back Stateside. Perhaps that was the savior since we didn't find it all that bad...although it still rather ranked where we placed "The Green Hornet" and "RED". It was just a story that didn't really get much steam going for it. Heck, we could even endure Megan Fox.

This week is also looking a bit slower than usual since I don't have the Beehive tomorrow. It'll just be the juku duo of Mr. White (hopefully) and The Milds since they are back from their New Zealand sojourn. It's one of the rare cases in which I didn't have any juku classes in a week that wasn't Xmas-related. Also, it looks like Wednesday will be a rare two-lesson day with only one lesson at Speedy's...that being with The Overachiever....and my regular with The New Yorker in Shinjuku.

Thursday February 10, 6:11 p.m.

Three classes smashed together and then a few hours of nothing. Such has been my afternoon. But The Carolinan should be here shortly and then it'll be another couple of hours before The Music Man comes in. I don't know but it certainly didn't feel like there would be a snowstorm coming in tomorrow when I went out to get my bento earlier. It felt pretty warm out there.

Thursday February 10, 10:50 a.m.

Got the phone that The Artist will be late by 15 minutes which regrettably means that she'll only be getting 45 minutes of lesson since I've got The Shareholder and Grandma FON back-to-back-back. However, I hope to remedy any loss by giving her those chocolates in recompense. When Miss Efficiency remarked that The Artist didn't seem to mind wasting her money whenever she decides to come in late, I just said that she's being an artist.

I was able to get Cozy's latest translation done although I can't be quite sure about the quality this time. However, I'm just happy that I can send over the draft before the 3-day weekend. They're calling for snow tomorrow here in the Kanto although I won't believe it until I see it for myself from the warmth of my futon.

Thursday February 10, 8:18 a.m.

It's the last day of the week since we've got that national holiday tomorrow, but it's also my Hump Day since I've got 6 on the slate. I'm gonna feel rather sorry for The Music Man tonight. Mind you, 50% of the lessons are bunched together so there will be some open spaces on either side.

I've gotten a little chocolate for The Artist since I screwed up on her appointment back on Monday. I know that I apologized profusely to her but I don't think it's quite enough for me. The chocolate should take my guilty conscience over the top.

Yesterday's two lessons went smoothly. The Overachiever had a good session prepping himself for his MBA interviews. It's always good when the atmosphere is more collaborative than just teaching one-way. And 001 was her usual jovial self. She appreciated borrowing my Mr. Boston book on bartending since she can look up the cocktails that her idol, Masaki Aiba, makes up on his "Bartender" show. I won't see her for about 3 weeks due to the vagaries of her work.

One thing I won't miss about this job is the long Thursdays.

Wednesday February 9, 1:35 p.m.

Just after I had logged off at the I-Cafe yesterday, I found out from the juku boss that Mr. White had once again cancelled his lesson which left me with my 2nd free Tuesday night in a row. I'll have to be careful not to get too accustomed to that. So, I didn't bother going over to The Restauranteur for dinner last night and just did my Spam and rice at home. Then it was just continuing my preliminary work on last year's taxes and otherwise relaxing at home.

I actually used Amazon.jp for the first time in several years to purchase a couple of discs that I hadn't been able to find anywhere in The Big Sushi. The last time I used the site was to get Anita Baker's very first release; at the time, it was easy to pay COD. Now, things are a bit more complicated, but only a bit more. Instead, I had to go to some machine in the local Family Mart convenience store and punch in some numbers before paying at the cashier. Very quick and easy. Convenience stores here are truly convenient stores.

The discs that I purchased via Jeff Bezos' brainchild were both from The Manhattan Transfer, "Extensions" and "Bodies and Souls". These two, along with "Mecca for Moderns", make up what I call their AOR trilogy in the late 70s/early 80s. Speaking of the group, it looks like Hauser and the gang are once again making the touring rounds of Japan in March. I did go to that concert of theirs at the local Blue Note last year, and basically though it was thrilling to see them live, I'll have to see what they're gonna sing before I decide whether to spend the yen again.

Today, I've just got two students, The Overachiever and 001...pretty quiet for a Wednesday considering the last two of them. The Overachiever is prepping up for an MBA interview so I printed out several pages that he'd directed me to which contained all of the tricks of the trade for him to do his best. As for 001, I've brought over a book on bartending recipes since she's now watching her idol, Masaki Aiba of Arashi, star in a TV Asahi late-night drama called "Bartender". I also have to finish up that last translation for Cozy by tomorrow. And tomorrow will be another Hump Day with 6 on the slate.

Looks like we may have snow in the forecast for Friday. It's gonna be National Foundation Day, which means for most people, Extra Sleep Day.

Tuesday February 8, 1:51 p.m.

Like me, you probably grew up in the 80s in Canada or stayed up late on Friday nights on NBC at the same time, if you can recognize this fellow. Yep, it is indeed a young Eugene Levy (of "American Pie" fame) when he was doing Bobby Bittman on the legendary "SCTV".

"HOW are yuh?"

I've been continuing the viewing of all those DVD sets I got back in Canada 6 weeks ago. And Volume 3 of "SCTV" is on my screen right now after having gone through "Doctor Who" and "Family Guy". I'm also finishing up on "Get Smart", the original series with Don Adams and Barbara Feldon. The two are similar in that I'm not enjoying them for the laughs but basically for nostalgic purposes. Both of them do have their moments but a lot of the scenes have only managed to get just chuckles from me. However, I guess for me it's just seeing these beloved characters from my childhood and adolescence once more that have given me the pleasure.

The 5th and final season of "Get Smart" has been especially interesting for me since for all intents and purposes, it is the first time I've seen these episodes since I (barely) remember them being first aired in 1969-1970. For some strange reason, these episodes have never been put on reruns. So up until last week, I had only hazy snippets of the Smarts' twins being born; Max, 99 and The Chief being aged; and that opening sequence of zoom shots of Washington. As it is, though, I can see why this was the final season. Things were getting rather weird in terms of plot, even for "Get Smart", and 99 was becoming almost as goofball as her husband. Plus I can see where some fans started getting a bit disappointed when Max and 99 started searching for baby formula instead of KAOS agents. I'd say that the show "jumped the shark" once Max and 99 finally got married several years before the term became a part of Hollywood lingo via "Happy Days".

As for Cycle 3 of "SCTV", this was the final season for Catherine O'Hara, Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas. Although I think John Candy and Eugene Levy are comedic icons, "SCTV" jumped its own shark once those three decided to leave and "The Days of the Week" soap opera parody started.

Tuesday February 8, 1:39 p.m.

Looks like Winter has come back to the Kanto. Pretty brisk out there. And I heard that snow may be in the forecast for this long weekend.

Speaking of the long weekend, I'll be meeting up with MB and Skippy for the first time this year. In fact, I'll be doing another sleepover at MB's place on Saturday night although I'll have to teach Yajima on the following Sunday. The movie of choice on Saturday will be "RED", that mindless piece of escapism with the old guys: Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman and John Malkovich. Should be fun for a few laughs. I'll have to see what Movie Buddy thought about "The Green Hornet".

My session with The Beehive had a temporary place this morning in the form of a place called Cafe Nard in Funabashi. It sounds like a coffeeshop in Eastern Europe. It was Mrs Jade's idea to hold it there since she passes by the place daily. It's actually across from the cafe where I usually teach The Bass and is located where a former supermarket used to be. That may explain the slightly unusual configuration. For a cafe, it is rather long and wide. I almost felt giddy with all of the walking room and legroom I had.

It'll definitely be a quiet day since I've only got Mr. White today at the juku while The Milds are off in New Zealand. We may end up gabbing on his trip to that Boa concert in Yoyogi about a couple of weeks back. Then I'll make another trip to the Restauranteur's place nearby for some dinner. It'll make for a pleasant Tuesday night.

Tuesday February 8, 1:26 p.m.

Sumo seems to be reaching a pivotal moment in its centuries-long history. A couple of years ago, there was that case of a stablemaster and some of his young charges beating a junior rikishi to death just because he wouldn't get with the program. Then last year came that scandal concerning certain wrestlers who were illegally betting on baseball games. There was some hope of redemption while yokozuna Hakuho was on that record-setting winning streak.

But then the bottom fell out once more in the last couple of weeks when it was revealed that match-fixing was the latest thing to afflict the sumo world. In Japanese, it's known as yaocho. For those who are fairly knowledgeable about the Japanese language, the word might seem rather familiar to yaoya, which refers to a vegetable stand. Well, back in the Meiji Era, an owner of a vegetable stand had been known to purposely throw I-go games to a friend so that the friend would have chances to balance the odds.

In any case, heads are gonna roll, mostly in either the junior makunoshita division or in the middle juryo division. No surprise there since the rikishi who inhabit these two lower levels don't make a whole lot of money; in fact, I'd say that life in the makunoshita is just about equivalent to indentured servitude. And when one is living in or near the world's largest city, all that temptation can make one desperate for the cash. So far, 14 wrestlers and stablemasters have been targeted in the investigation of which just a fraction have fessed up.

The Japan Sumo Association has cancelled next month's Spring Tournament. A tournament has not been cancelled in over 60 years and this is the first time that a tourney has been canned due to some malfeasance. And indications are that this may not be the only one to get canned.

I think the entire world of sumo now needs a major, major overhaul. It may take something like a year's sabbatical to get its house in order. I mean, Canada had to live without hockey for a year due to a strike. Why not sumo? It's not as if sumo is the most popular sport in the country right now, so any absence wouldn't cause a major panic in the streets. And I think with all the talk of ancient tradition, the sport probably does need some major updating in terms of regulations.

Monday February 7, 9:32 p.m.

Well, the past number of days have been rather up and down professionally. The up parts have been thankfully my lessons with The Jyuppies and Mr. Swank since they are always very engaging. As for the down part:

The first thing was back on Friday with this fellow who I'd thought was an acquaintance of Mr. Jyuppie. But I didn't read the fine print and it turned out to be a friend of Mr. Jyuppie's buddy instead. I'd thought that I would be meeting a guy who was about the same status and income level as my student, but when I met him at the Tully's in the Akasaka Twin Tower, it turned out to be a very fluent high-flying executive of a management consulting firm of a Director level. Imagine his surprise when he met this fellow in sneakers with lapsed business cards who often conducts meatball English classes. I'm sure he was expecting someone on the level of a one-man school replete with self-published textbook. We spoke cordially in Japanese and English for an hour, and then he quickly took off. Although I could be wrong, I got the distinct impression that I was probably not his cup of tea. Different tax levels, to be sure.

Then the second bomb came just this morning. I'd done something I had never done in my years at Speedy's. I completely screwed up the time I was to meet The Artist this morning. Even though I'd put it down in my schedule for 11 a.m., I stupidly assumed that it was noon. So it was with some surprise that I came in at 11:15 and saw a blank-looking Artist staring at me while Miss Efficiency burst out and asked with some shock about where I was. I felt lower than a centipede's corns and profusely apologized to my young student. She was very gracious but even several hours after the screwup, I still feel pretty lousy about it. I kinda feel like getting her an early Valentine's Day gift for her on Thursday morning in continued penitence.

Thursday February 3, 4:53 p.m.

Well, Doraemon was either mightily caffeinated that day or he was doing his best Clint Eastwood impression.

It's been a busy day...even humpier than yesterday's Hump Day by an extra class. Luckily, The Patent Attorney counts as a nice walk in the park in terms of lessons.

I've got The German in about 5 minutes. And then it's the usual lineup of Mrs. Thursday and The Music Man. My little bout of food poisoning has pretty much gone away but I think that anti-diarrheal medicine has been working too well....now, I'm just simply not...going. This may lead up to a Mt. Shin-Moe eruption in the next few hours if I lay off the meds.

Wednesday February 2, 9:12 p.m.

Yup, that's the guy, your honor! It's Kojak. I saw a rerun of Telly Savalas' detective drama from the 70s last night on cable whilst I was recovering from a bout of 24-hour food poisoning from a rogue salad. It's amazing how counterintuitive CBS was in getting Savalas cast as a good tough cop when he had been regularly cast as psychos or amoral bastards like Blofeld on "On Her Majesty's Secret Service". So, I got to see and hear all those "Who Loves Ya, Baby?" and lollipops for the first time in over 30 years.

As for today, I managed to survive the gauntlet of students on what was a Hump Day. This, considering I'm not totally out of the woods of my Montezuma's Revenge quite yet, but I'm getting better. I have a bit of a cheat in the form of some medicine that I bought at the nearby pharmacy; but that's better than having to rush out every few minutes from a student.

Let's see...I had The Artist (who's now much better herself), The Overachiever, Miss Prissy, 001 and finally, The Businesswoman should be coming in about 10 minutes for the last slot. I've got even more folks tomorrow. I like all of my students but I'm not gonna miss these super full schedules when I leave in June.

Wednesday February 2, 3:17 p.m.

Looks like I was the latest to be felled by an ailment. Back on Monday night, after I'd eaten my salad, my stomach started making some unusual mewling noises which continued into Tuesday. By the time I got home between The Beehive and the juku, I was kinda feeling rather unpleasant, though it wasn't enough to dive into the toilet headfirst. So I actually had to call the juku boss up and informed her that I wouldn't be able to come in. She'd called me earlier to state that Mr. White couldn't come because he had been taken down by the flu, so I didn't feel too guilty since The Milds were the only other lesson of the night and as their code name would suggest, they're pretty cool about it. Plus, I think it was the first time in my history with the juku (5 or 6 years) that I'd actually called in sick. The boss at first thought I was calling to resign from the place...she's so paranoid about that happening.

In any case, I stayed on the couch tending to my sore stomach and had a very rare Tuesday night off. I ended up watching an old rerun of "Kojak" on cable (yep, "Columbo" is apparently not the only show in town for 70s American TV detectives) and just watched a lot of the situation in Egypt.

And for the first time in several months, I actually 9 hours of sleep. That's about as rare as a cockroach in a sushi bar in Tokyo. This country is not known to be the birthplace for karoshi for nothing. But I hit the hay at about 10 p.m. and got up at 7 a.m. this morning. And I felt a whole lot better although the rumbles come and go in my tummy. Kinda tells me something about how I need to change some things to my lifestyle.

Which reminds me about the fact that I finally dropped the bomb on the bossman at Speedy's late on Monday night. Yep, I did inform him that I would be working only up to the summer. As expected, he took the bad news (for him) pretty calmly although it was obvious he wasn't too happy about the prospect of losing me. And this morning, as expected, he tried to see if he could squeeze in some regulars into my morning schedule....after all, since I'm now on limited time and all. Uh....no. However, I did acquiesce to a possible student after 001 since Miss Sony has finished her time with us.

Monday January 31, 9:27 p.m.

Well, yesterday after my lesson with Yajima, I made my way on the Hibiya Line all the way up to Akihabara to partake in the 2nd hokoten after it had been reinstated for the first time in 2.5 years. The people were definitely out there in droves walking around on the pavement usually meant for vehicular traffic. But as the sign said: No performances, no selling, no handing out of tissues. I think the sign also should have said: No Fun. Yup, it was pretty devoid of any excitement (save one rather lonely character in the guise of some pig walking down the main strip), but I'm just happy that the street has been blocked off at all. It's kinda like a patient only just coming out of a fugue-state coma...it'll take some time for the place to get lively again. According to the sign, this pseudo-Akiba hokoten will be in its current form until the end of June, and if everything works out, the term will be extended into the summer. Perhaps then we may be able to see dancing anime characters.

Still, the hokoten is coming back to Akihabara when changes have taken place. JR Akihabara is now brand spanking new and trendy after some years of remodeling, doner kebab has become the area's unofficial food, and AKB 48 has claimed the crown as the darlings of the neighbourhood. I kinda celebrated the return of the pedestrians' paradise by buying the doner kebab at the corner where they were made. That corner was liberally populated by noshing visitors and pigeons. There's no other place (save McDonalds) that has so much food for so little price.

Strangely enough, I ended up in Akihabara again this morning after Cozy's lesson in Toyocho, since I had an urge to have some kaiten sushi for the first time in a few months. Monday morning in Akiba is a far cry from yesterday's relative hijinks. It's not filled with folks...vehicular traffic seems to be more active on the street than people are on the sidewalks. Basically, I just walked around the area for several minutes before making my way into Yodobashi Akiba and going up to the 8th floor where Sushi Zanmai was located. Since I got there only 15 minutes after they had opened, the conveyor belts were doing minimal business. Basically, I had to work it like at a regular sushi bar and ask for my sushi. Service was a bit off, too. First, the waitress brought over tepid miso soup before she hurriedly and apologetically replaced it with a far hotter variety. Then, the nearest chef to me forgot my one order of negi toro. Now, I'm pretty laid back about that sort of thing, but I think the staff missed a bullet. Mistakes like that can be absorbed easily back in the States or Canada, but I think the staff over at the Zanmai were lucky that the customers were very laid back and that it was early. If it had been later in the day with a fuller house, there would've been demands for low bows of prostration from a few hardheaded customers.

Saturday January 29, 2:14 p.m.

Almost done with my blogging for the day. Yesterday, I had been expecting to meet Swank for her first Friday session at Espresso Americano in Roppongi Hills. I waited 45 minutes past our appointed time of 10:30 before I decided that she was gonna be a no-show. Swank had always been dependable so I figured something was up. And sure enough, once I called her up on her cell, a profusely apologetic Swank informed me that she'd completely forgotten about the date since she was so accustomed to her old regular meeting day of Mondays. Still, I enjoyed my time at the cafe although the blueberry muffin was dry as dust.

My internal decision to leave Speedy's in June must be having some psychic effects. I've had quite a few cancellations over the past couple of weeks. The Grandmas are largely gone from the picture, Medicine Man will be AWOL for at least a month, and Miss Sony didn't renew. Also, I've been getting a couple of requests for private lessons from different sources. One of them, an acquaintance of Mr. Jyuppie, has started a dialogue with me via e-mail for lessons. If everything works out, I will be meeting him this Friday in Akasaka. The other potential new student is an acquaintance of Mr. TOEFL. Like him, he's also a veterinarian. Pretty interesting.

That little televised exposure of us last Saturday on "The King's Brunch" has had some mild benefits in that one new person had come for the one-coin session on Friday. However, that possible appearance of comedian Sanma Akashiya is looking pretty unlikely now. Thought that one was looking rather too good to be true.

I had another good session with The Journo last night at the juku. He's been coming up with the war stories. A couple of days ago, Mt. Shin-Moe on the border of Miyazaki and Kagoshima Prefectures blew up spewing so much ash and sand. The Journo had just come back from covering the volcanic eruption and even admitted that there had been a chance that he wouldn't have been able to get back due to the tie-up in traffic there.

Currently, the big news eruption is the crisis in Egypt. Looks like Hosni Mubarak is living on borrowed time. Tunisia should re-name itself Tinderbox. I'm wondering what the Final between Japan and Australia for the Asia Cup will be like tonight since they're playing not too far away from the revolutions.

Saturday January 29, 2:07 p.m.

This would have sent any nutritionist heading for the cliff like a lemming. The above is my breakfast from yesterday. I still had a hunk of cooked rice left over which I needed to polish off. And so when I hit the 24-hour supermarket around midnight Thursday evening, I came across 300 g of American beef. Well, I also had some tangy tare which also needed to be expended, so I decided to make a huge bowl of gyudon....a megadon (sounds like one of Godzilla's enemies), to be cute. The final ingredient was just a package of stir-fry veggies.

Now, beef bowls have become de rigueur even in US airports. My portion was about 3 times as big. And just like the Yoshinoya variety, it was a snap to make. Just threw in the beef with a bit of oil, added salt, pepper and sake, even some consomme bits into a frypan before adding the veggies. I heated up the rice and then just unloaded the pan's contents onto the warm rice. Of course, before I did that, I poured the remaining tare all over the beef and veg. Delish...and it basically tied me over until Idaho Burger time in the early evening.

Saturday January 29, 1:51 p.m.

There have been all sorts of plot points in my life over the past few days.

The saga of the mercurial Ms. Efficiency has continued. On Thursday, La Fille was the latest staffer at Speedy's to be victimized by the Hyde side of Ray's replacement. I was sitting at my post when La Fille was trying to give some guidance to Efficiency on the ways of the computer. Efficiency took her kind efforts to be some sort of insult on her abilities (or lack of them) and then sagely pointed out La Fille's supposed weaknesses. The exchange was less intense than my own arguments with Efficiency late last year but it was enough to rattle La Fille. La Fille, who could usually absorb any trial or tribulation with aplomb, turned to me a couple of hours after Efficiency had left for the day and asked me with some frustration whether she had really insulted Efficiency. I reassured La Fille that Efficiency was clearly in the wrong and explained that Efficiency has some emotional issues....ah, heck, let's be honest here...Efficiency's a bit mental.

I'm not sure if I should've done it without La Fille's permission, but I decided to report the exchange to the bossman after the final class of the day. The bossman had that look of resignation that he only gets whenever Efficiency's involved in the topic of conversation. Perhaps I may have jumped the gun but I figure I was in the room when the exchange happened and that the bossman should be given as much information as possible about this lady's problems. The bossman explained that he couldn't just fire a person for having a paranoid personality, but it was obviously evident that he was just looking for an excuse, any excuse, to let her go. And he even admitted that he made a huge mistake by hiring Efficiency...which is quite something when I consider that he doesn't like to concede arguments.

Not surprisingly, Efficiency brought her Lucy Van Pelt self during the actual move from the old place to the new place over The Holidays and bossed around the two volunteers who had come to help out. The bossman even confided that his own wife, who's probably the most patient wife any husband can ever have (and knowing the bossman, my statement has weight), won't even be in the same room with her.

Just like a certain presidential dictator of Egypt, I think Miss Efficiency is now on borrowed time.

Saturday January 29, 1:44 p.m.

Back at the I-Cafe.

The 2nd of the Big America 2 series at McDonalds has landed, and it's a live one. The Idaho Burger has arrived, and true to those wacky Japanese pop cultural sensibilities, the burger comes with a topping of a giant Hash Brown, since all American potatoes reside in Idaho, of course. I can just imagine Fuad from "Family Guy" laughing up his lungs at this sight.

Compared to The Texas Burger 2 which was quite zesty, The Idaho Burger has a more peppery BBQ sauce which was frankly a little too gelly for my tastes. That sauce along with the hot mustard pretty much rendered the addition of the giant Hash Brown rather moot; only from the texture could I recognize that there was a potato in there.

Apparently, in February, we've got The Miami Burger and the Manhattan Burger to look forward to. I can only imagine what kinda ingredients might go onto the patties for those ones.

Thursday January 27, 6:07 p.m.

Spent a few hours in the South Shinjuku area. Had my lunch in that Szechuan place under the Maynds Tower. Yep, they really whipped up a spicy number with that chicken and bamboo shoot dish today. I was afraid that my breath was gonna be a lethal weapon as far as The New Yorker was concerned. However, thanks to a lot of time between lunch and her lesson, my mouth was able to correct itself of any potential halitosis assault. Just went through Kinokuniya for about an hour before spending two more in the Starbucks before The New Yorker arrived.

I'd been having an internal battle (no, not because of the Szechuan although there were a few repercussions after I'd gotten back to Speedy's) at Starbucks over whether to indulge in their Zacher Torte; common sense prevailed. And it was a good thing, too, since when I got back, La Fille gave me some omiyage in the form of Sweet Potato Tarts. Cute little things with a lot of fibre....kinda like Linda Hunt from "NCIS: Los Angeles".

The student fallout continues. After hearing about the disappearance of the Grandmas from the permanent schedule and Miss Sony's intention to not renew, Miss Efficiency informed me that The Medicine Man, whom I have yet to see since I got back from Toronto, will not only be cancelling next week's lesson but would be unavailable for all of February. According to his current contract, he only has a few lessons left so I'm wondering if this is the beginning of the slow fadeout. With all of these students leaving, I'm also wondering if this is fate emphasizing that it is time for me to leave Speedy...I've already made the decision to go in June; still haven't told the bossman quite yet but with Medicine Man's cancellation, I'll have to time to talk with him on Monday.

Thursday January 27, 11:06 a.m.

Well, my Mega Hump Day has gotten downgraded to a mere Hump Day with The Artist's sudden cancellation this morning. Apparently, her mother had called during my lesson with Grandma FON about an hour ago stating that The Artist has come down with some sort of virus (the usual symptoms of vomiting and other expulsions). The Artist had come in yesterday, and she did look rather ruddy although I'd thought it was because of the heat of the classroom. The Artist told me one rather remarkable fact about her life....she apparently has some sort of committed Peeping Tom who regularly "looks in on" her and leaves a mark....no, not that mark...but just a marker scrawl of some sort on her door. She's currently engaged in a cold war of sorts by repeatedly erasing said mark.

In any case, I now have some time before The New Yorker's lesson in Shinjuku so I will probably hit my favorite Chinese place in the Maynds Building.

Thursday January 27, 8:24 a.m.

I've been back for a few weeks now and I have to say that my life in 2 worlds has taken a rather bipolar aspect. When I'm here, I think Toronto is a dreamland and while I'm back over in my hometown, I think over here is a fantasy world. Air Canada provides that interdimensional gateway...with meal service and movies. I just hope AC doesn't decide to use the previous phrase as their new slogan.

The Oscar nominations have come out. I'm happy to say that I have seen three of the ten nominees for Best Picture: "Toy Story 3", "Inception" and "The Social Network". Not sure what's gonna happen next month, but I think the bets are on either "The Social Network" and "The King's Speech". The latter film will be out here sometime soon, and it is one that I would like to catch, along with "True Grit". I'm not a huge fan of Westerns but the commercials I caught back in Toronto made it quite appealing.

Thursday January 27, 8:14 a.m.

Yup, my first 5-hour sleep of the year. That's something I really want to stamp out....however, I live in a country whose people seem to excel at it. I've got my 7 hours of classes today. I love all of my students but yeah it's gonna be a grind by tonight. I've bought the two bottles of vitamin drinks to emphasize it. The lineup is: The Patent Attorney, Grandma FON, The Artist, The Sisters of State, Mrs. Thursday and The Music Man.

Wednesday January 26, 10:26 p.m.

Well, it looks like it wasn't just Grandma Fado who's flown the coop. Miss Sony has decided not to renew with us....I kinda got that feeling last week when she replied to La Fille's inquiry on whether she'll renew by saying "I'll think about that". Usually when people say that, I tend not to be too optimistic.

I'm gonna have a rather hellish schedule tomorrow with 7 hours of lessons. I was hoping that I would avoid that but it looks like it's come up on me a little earlier than I had hoped.

Finally, my cable company and I came up with a mutual day for them to come over and exchange my modem after several faxes and aborted phone calls.

Wednesday January 26, 5:50 p.m.

Last Sunday, some 2 and a half years after the Akihabara Massacre, the main street was closed off for a few hours to create the return of the hokoten, the pedestrian's paradise. But it's not quite as it was before June 2009. For one thing, there are no street performances allowed but there are plenty of police and citizen patrols. However, it's not as if street performances were physically possible on that day anyways. When I was watching NHK News that night, the news helicopter showed the street absolutely coated in pedestrians. It was just wall-to-wall people marching back and forth.

I didn't have a chance to see the proceedings for myself since I had The Jyuppies for their first lessons of the year, but I don't think I missed that much. However, I do have a chance this coming Sunday after I finish with Yajima. Perhaps although the performances will not be available as of yet, there will be those exhibitionists who will strut through in their various anime costumes. Still, I am happy for the return of what made Akihabara cool in the first place.

Wednesday January 26, 5:42 p.m.

Found out from Miss Efficiency that we've pretty much lost almost all of the Grandmas. Grandma Fado decided to stop her lessons with us...perhaps for the time being, perhaps permanently. Grandmas Fado, Tango, Enka and Dynamite are gone. I've only got Grandma FON for now. Enka and Dynamite left due to family health problems while Tango has got her own health woes. As for Fado, I think our move to the new place and the fact that we've been coasting sans textbook for weeks probably made the decision. To be honest, I'm not all that disappointed to see her go although I was the last person to "teach" her. Having a lady in her 80s with just basic English just waiting for the teacher to do something is never easy. Grandma Fado was a really nice lady but I think it's time to move on.

Wednesday January 26, 2:31 p.m.

I've got The Artist in about 30 minutes. I haven't seen her since December so it'll be nice to see what she's been up to. Then it'll be the usual Wednesday night students of 001 and Miss Sony. I heard from Miss Efficiency that it looks like another TBS programme could be interested in doing a gig at our newly-minted school. Last Thursday we had a crew from the Saturday morning variety programme, "The King's Brunch" film a one-coin which flooded La Fille with tons of calls immediately after the segment aired. Now apparently, an even bigger show, called "Sanma's Karakuri TV" on Sunday nights may be curious about having its entire cast show up in our school. Sanma Akashiya is a loud brash legendary Osaka comedian who's been around for about 30 years. Like a lot of other veteran TV folks here, he's got a number of programs of which his Sunday night program is arguably the biggest one. It's basically a hodgepodge program filled with "People Say The Darndest Things"-type segments and whatnot....of course with him having his tarento buddies around him.

My feelings are that if this actually pans out next week, it's gonna be one really noisy session. I may have to give ample warning to folks like The Music Man and Mrs. Thursday, although they may get rather miha over the possibility.

As for me, I'll have to say that it might be rather interesting meeting this crowd.

Wednesday January 26, 2:09 p.m.

Saw The Bass for the first time in nearly 2 months (he was rather surprised at that fact). I gave him a tin of Maple Green Tea as his souvenir; not quite sure how he'll take to that. Apparently, he'd gotten into another accident near the end of last year; this time, it was in his car in Shinjuku when he got rear-ended. He also had his annual trip to Los Angeles for the drum convention.

He also mentioned that he'd had some problems making himself understood during his trip which made him think very aloud whether he was actually improving in his English. When I probed further, I found out that a lot of his problems happened during a performance of drums; I gently pointed out that even native English speakers would have problems making themselves heard during a sonic assault of that magnitude. But his doubts aren't the first I've heard from a student. Over the years, a number of high-intermediate students have come up to me to say that they don't feel they've improved. And for them, the fluency curve is often a lot steeper and I explain that it's gonna take a lot of practice and even more intense work into the nitty-gritty before they make that breakthrough into really fluent English. Of course, with them and The Bass, I didn't make light of their doubts. I explained to him that I can help him with his pronounciation although I warned him that this area was arguably the most difficult to reach proficiency in. And I even lightly suggested that perhaps another teacher may be the answer. This was a pretty delicate part of our conversation since I didn't want to give the impression I was being defensive and certainly I don't want to lose him as a student...especially since I've made the decision to leave Speedy's in June. However, I do want him to get the best in English training and if I'm not up to snuff, he should have the right to find someone better.

Wednesday January 26, 2:04 p.m.

Just threw up an old picture from last August when I visited the Ramen Museum near Shin-Yokohama Station. That was a mighty fine tasting bowl of Kumamoto tonkotsu. The reason I put it up is that I just got a message from The Dancer back home in Toronto confirming when she and her family will be hitting Tokyo. They'll be coming over in mid-March. Her husband is a huge fan of ramen so I offered to take them either to the Museum or to Foo Foo in Shinjuku. There could be quite a crowd of buddies coming over in March/April. The Dancer's clan is coming over, then it'll be The Anime King and possibly Automan in late March.

Monday January 24, 6:34 p.m.

On Saturday, the Speedy staff and I got together for our farewell dinner for our guest of honor at the Wolfgang Puck restaurant over JR Shinjuku. The problem was our guest of honor never showed up. Ray has been such a steady worker for us for the past 2 years that there had been a very good reason for her no-show. And as it turns out, her strong work ethic mandated that she take over at her other job for an ailing friend. Never a bad thing.

And that also meant that there was more food for us to eat (heh-heh). It wasn't the first time for me to try out Wolfgang Puck's although it has been more than a couple of years since my last meal there. I have to say that the absence did make my stomach grow fonder. The Roast Chicken in Honey-Mustard Sauce was very good; the meat just fell off the bone...hadn't seen anything like that on anything else except for an exceptionally good sparerib. The rest of the dishes were also excellent such as the Salade Chinoise and the Margarita Pizza. It was almost as if the namesake chef himself had been manning the kitchen. My only regret was that we couldn't have the famed Smoked Salmon Pizza that brought Puck to everlasting culinary fame.