Saturday July 7, 4:44 p.m.

Well, I'm done for the day. Got through The Manhattanite and The Dentist. The Dentist had one of the more interesting stories this week. Her favourite oden restaurant's owners (the bossman also frequents the place) had just started a second branch in Kanda last week when a little gas accident basically totalled the entire place. No injuries but no insurance, either. That's a very fast way to throw away tons of money...faster than a few rounds of blackjack in Vegas. The Manhattanite will be making another appearance here late on Thursday night...which means I'll have to rush up from Ichigaya where I'm scheduled to teach The Carolinan and BC (provided that BC has recovered from her depression). It would be a long day on Thursday but I've got this rather huge gap in the schedule between 11:30 and 6:30, so I'm not really griping.

Supposedly, Live Earth Tokyo is booming along with some band called The Abingdon something or other right now. Those technopop dinosaurs, Yellow Magic Orchestra, are skedded to play as well. There was an an NHK 1-hour special (you Youtube guys have probably already put it out) last night on Sakamoto, Hosono and Takahashi with a performance. Yep, quite a lot of time has gone by. That was one of the tamest versions of "Cue" I'd ever heard. Quite a far cry from those slick modern Asian boys I saw thirty years ago on the stage.

Saturday July 7, 1:34 p.m.

Well, today is Tanabata Day...the day when everyone dresses up in yukata and ties up little strips of colourful paper with their wishes written on them. I've already seen some of the young and old ladies wrapped up in their kimono today on the streets.

The Dancer finally did call this morning. Apparently, the cell phone died temporarily on the bullet train. But no problems here...I'm meeting the clan tomorrow morning at their apartment hotel in Roppongi and then we'll plan out the day's events. They did mention the possibility of going to Harajuku although I'm not sure what the kids would think. But there is the Kiddyland store not too far away.

The Lady called me this morning as well to cancel this Monday's class due to various ailments. She's got her shingles and The Matron has got another backache. And I may suffer some financial headaches if this continues. Not good considering I've gotta get my ticket for Hong Kong, the National Health Insurance premium schedule is due in this month, and I'll be treating The Dancer's family tomorrow.

However, I did see The Coffeemaker this morning. Tully is back in Japan but he's up in his home prefecture of Nagano to celebrate the remodeling of his family home with the rest of his clan. The Coffeemaker was in good form, as she usually is, and it was nice to have the basement of the cafe devoid of people for most of the hour.

I've got The Manhattanite for the first time in a few weeks here at Speedy's in a few minutes. I'll be lending her a CD called "Shipbuilding" by a Japanese collective called Tomita Lab which seems to specialize in bossa-tinged AOR type stuff. She's a fan of the J-reggae singer, Hanaregumi. He's got a contribution on the disc but it's rather different in tone from what he usually sings so I wanted to give her a listen to it. Then, I've got The Dentist for her 60.

I'm assuming the Live Earth concert has started in Makuhari Messe on schedule. I warned The Ace last night, since he's off doing some sort of qualification test in Chiba City today, that he could be surprised by a lot of kiddies on the train today heading to see Kumi Koda and all those other J-Pop singers. Speaking of Al Gore's musical magnum opus, I've been rather surprised at how controversial it's been. Apparently, Bob Geldof, the grandpa of all these benefit megaconcerts, has slammed the former VP for holding this supposedly ill-advised event. And certainly on CNN, there was no love lost for Gore. Glenn Beck, aka Paula Zahn's replacement, and a representataive of PETA actually agreed on the hypocrisy of this concert in that this concert will probably be pumping a planet's worth of carbon into the atmosphere and that tons of meat will be served which means that another ton of emissions will go into the air from the processing. Perhaps, it's just as well that Al said that he has fallen out of love with politics.

Anyways, got the Manhattanite...

Friday July 6, 1:26 p.m.

The Nurse had her best day as a student here today. She was just spot-on and trying so hard. All of us had to try hard trying to get a slot for her for the next, next class though. I may have done my faux pas of the week when I suggested she could come in on the 21st, a Saturday, since I do have that dreaded DVD lesson. However, both the boss and The Admin kinda froze; apparently, The Nurse has paid for weekday lessons only so basically if she does in on the 21st, she would have to pay extra but Speedy said that he would waive it...just for her. Well, I've said that I have little interest in the business side of things...only interested in making sure the students are happy with their lessons.

Well, I've checked all of my sources. The Dancer has not checked in. So I guess I'll be heading back home for yet another dinner in my place...twice in a row. That's some sort of record. Plus, I did get some of the curricula stuff done so I'm not feeling too guilty.

At the risk of letting my ridiculously long multi-coloured scarf show, I've reading up on the latest "Doctor Who" news on Outpost Gallifrey. It seems as if the BBC flagship show has been starting to attract some pretty big stars a la "24". Sir Derek Jacobi had his few minutes in the sci-fi sun as The Master, Kylie Minogue will be showing up in the season premiere on Xmas Day, and now the rumours are flying about that Hollywood hard guy, Dennis Hopper, may be popping up. Of course, all of us are probably holding our breath (for a few seconds) at that news. I'm just trying to imagine all that in my mind...an actor who's been in everything from the original "Twilight Zone" to "Blue Velvet" to Japanese commercials for bath salts to the first season of "24" is gonna be starring next to Everyone's Favourite Time Lord in Season 4. All I can say is that if Hopper does indeed come to The Beeb, I'll be awaiting Leonard Nimoy's cameo. And hey, Paris (pre-convict) Hilton mentioned the good Doctor in an SNL skit.
Speaking of which...I guess "Heroes" has become TV's version of a sci-fi convention. Not only do we have an otaku as the star of the show, but we've also got Mr. Sulu as his Dad and Chris Eccleston (The Ninth Doctor) as another mutant. Plus, apparently, Eric (brother of Julia and The Master in the 1996 Who movie) Roberts is popping up as another character there. I guess it's not surprising but American TV has been promising more of these eerie SF/superhero shows for the fall lineup. It'll be a duckshoot whether any of them survive the current boom.
The bottom line, though, is that The Entrepreneur has taped the first three eps of Season 3 for me and so, I should be expecting a little package by mid-August. I will now hide the scarf.

Anyways, I'm done here. One more check of the e-mail and I'm outta here.

Friday July 6, 9:28 a.m.

Last night was a refreshing one, devoid of any classes. Just had that rare Takaaki Ishibashi night ("Utaban" on TBS at 8, and then his flagship show, "Tunnels no Minasan no Okage deshita") on Fuji-TV at 9. Plus, some major ironing.

I still have yet to hear from The Dancer despite sending an e-mail over to her yesterday. So, I may assume that we aren't gonna meet today...which isn't too bad for me. I'll just have my lesson with The Nurse, do a bit of curricula and then head on home until it's time for The Ace tonight. I'm actually feeling fairly sprightly this morning since I decided to hit the hay early last night at the Spanish dinner hour of 10 and then wake up at 6 this morning.

I've been hearing about Al Gore's (BTW, way to go on raising that neer-do-well son of yours, Al) Live Earth concerts for the past few weeks and was wondering when they would be hitting play. Well, goofy me. I just read in "The Japan Times" that they launch tomorrow. The Tokyo base will be having their contribution to the cause in Makuhari Messe...not exactly in my neighbourhood, but pretty darn close. Makuhari Messe is that convention complex in Chiba which reminds me of what the guys on "Logan's Run" or "Rollerball" could've been envisioning as a utopian/dystopian environment of the future....all white gleaming metal and concrete to reflect all that horrible heat right into the air. I couldn't think of a more ironic place to hold a concert devoted to solving the world's environmental problems. Still, I think the concert will have a who's who of J-Pop history: current flavour-of-the-semi-decade Kumi Koda will be strutting her stuff in as little as possible, and I think even technopop legends YMO will have a hand in the proceedings. I'll have to play my "Rydeen" in tribute....never could figure out what the title meant. I guess it's like Phil Collins' "Sussudio".

Yesterday was also the final day of the current session of the Diet. The Upper House President, retiring pol Chikage Ogi (a former Takarazuka Revue star...and absolutely looks it), gave her best Queen Victoria impression with her verbal "We're not amused" reprimand to the senators for some of the problems over the past few months. I'd say that PM Abe and his LDP may be looking at a rather tough 2 weeks of campaigning starting from late next week....let's see, three ministerial resignations since he started his new job in September (well, two resignations and one suicide), a political fire to put out when one minister called women "baby-making machines", and then there is the little issue of that pension record snafu with a capital "F". As many 50 million records screwed and possibly lost forever...those are a lot of angry voters.
Still, the current political situation here in Japan is rather interesting. Unlike in the US where voters will throw out someone they don't like often enough (re: the last midterm elections), Japanese voters tend to go with the devil they know rather than the devil they don't. And since politicians kinda rank down there with yakuza and pedophiles, PM Abe may only have that security blanket to go with to keep the coalition majority in the Senate.
And the headaches continue....newly-minted Defense Minister Yuriko Koike already has a small crisis to handle. Looks like some hot-headed USN seaman ended up stabbing two young Japanese women in his apartment yesterday.

Well, the Nurse should be here any minute....

Thursday July 5, 12:46 p.m.

One of those warm & sunny summer days. Just had 002 for her 60...nice solo class. If I had only one class to teach for the day, hers would be it. And sure enough, I just have that class today. I decided to eschew the movie outing today since I would've had to wait until 3 to see "The Prestige"; I guess I'll have to wait for the DVD instead. So, just had a ramen lunch at the place just under my station. I don't have to worry about inflicting my breath or body odor to a poor student from the garlic broth or getting bloated during sleep.

I sent out mail to The Dancer to see what the clan is up to tomorrow when they return to Tokyo. I've got several hours between The Nurse at Speedy's and The Ace at the juku. I've got a feeling for the kids' sake, we'll be hitting the Coldstone Ice Cream Shop near their apartment hotel in Roppongi.

Speedy came into the room when 001 and I were just about to start our lesson. Both of us knew there was gonna be a spiel, and sure enough, he wanted to get our bodies over to the next little bit of restaurant hopping on the 28th...this time, for summer purposes, it will be a beer garden in Ebisu Garden Place. Speedy used all his charm to draw 001 with promises of much flowing alcohol, and I thought that just maybe she would actually take him up on the offer. However, 002 informed me that she hadn't received any e-mail from 001 about the party so basically she's gonna let it slide. I wasn't planning on going either since I don't go for large parties anymore, and I know that 001 isn't too keen on them either. The final nail in the coffin was 002's statement that she would have to do something rather early on the 29th so she wouldn't be going.

Anyways, that's it for now...

Wednesday July 4, 5:00 p.m.

Happy 4th of July to the Americans! Hopefully, the only fireworks you see later tonight are the officially sanctioned ones instead of the Al Qaeda ones. Interesting...with all of the hoopla in the States and the UK with the Blair-Brown transition, the Glasgow Airport bombing, the Scooter Libby commutation and now with the release of BBC reporter Alan Johnson, it's all too easy to miss some of the local scandals.

For instance, this political season should be called Fall instead of Summer...as in Fall of Ministers. PM Abe must be hitting the ulcer medicine something hard after his third member of Cabinet decided to fall on his sword...this time, figuratively. Defense Minister Kyuma resigned yesterday after having made the rather major faux pas of telling an audience his personal truth instead of the official or people's truth. He inferred that it had been inevitable that the US would nuke Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Personally, I have no problems with his opinion; perhaps, the A-bomb was needed to finish off WWII once and for all without having to sacrifice even more lives on both American and Japanese sides as had happened for the Battle for Okinawa some weeks earlier. Still, try giving that explanation to all the hibakusha who are still living and who are still suffering over 60 years later.
So, Kyuma joins the late Minister of Agriculture Matsuoka (suicide) and another minister by the name of Sada (scandal) on the scrap heap of disgraced Cabinet members. But the fun hasn't stopped...the new Defense Minister happens to be a former TV Tokyo broadcaster and a woman to boot, Yuriko Koike. Shinzo Abe must be wondering if any more wheels are gonna be falling off before the Upper House elections in a few weeks.

Yesterday was a typical Tuesday in Mister Canuck's Neighbourhood. Met up with The Beehive at Ms. Perth's apartment. As was expected, a lot of the conversation entailed Ms. Travel's latest adventure...this time in the Himalayas. She certainly had a glimpse of a different world: her destination was totally isolated with destitute people and treacherous roads. I almost envisioned her with a dusty fedora on her head, a whip in her hand and a John Williams soundtrack behind her. We also talked about the soon-to-be departing Ms. Perth's new home in Sapporo. It looks like The Class Act may not be the only group of students who I may be conducting large-scale field trips with. With luck, a trip to the Snow Festival in February may be in order.

The latest round of juku classes was interesting. Chip N' Dale were fine, Seven gave me her usual tribute of confections (this time, it was candied potato sticks) and even The Milds gave me an omiyage in the form of baked chocolate cookies from Shimane Prefecture after their weekend up there. In fact, I also did get an ochugen gift from Seven's mother as well...nice to be a teacher at times.
But the classes of note last night were the last two with The Siberian and Jolly. On Canada Day, The Siberian and a fellow student from his university had entered a Chinese-singing contest in Shin-Okubo. The two had been practicing their tune for a few hours 2 or 3 times a week in the local karaoke box with the shocking result that they actually took the top prize in Tokyo. And so in about 6 weeks, they'll be heading over to Beijing to enter the final stage in China's nationwide singing contest. If they take that crown, then they have their song officially stamped onto CDs for national distribution. I cracked that they could become the nation's equivalent of The Carpenters. The Siberian has always had a facility with foreign languages but he's said that trying to sing the Chinese language was quite a throat-shredding affair.
Then, Jolly told me of his culinary adventure when he and his boss had wined n' dined two clients last week at this pricey Akasaka steakhouse called Lowry's. Yes, it's the same Lowry's that takes care of the salt and pepper business. Jolly, not exactly a petit person, tackled a 1.5 kg steak. Even in this era of big eating in Tokyo did I imagine that a steakhouse would serve a hunk of beef that big in this country. His boss and clients looked on with a mixture of awe and perhaps disgust as my student managed to put away 80% of this former cow. He didn't have many regrets about leaving the 20% since it wasn't his yen. Being a settai, the very hefty bill (probably tens of thousands of yen) is now in the hands of Jolly's accounting department. I'm rather surprised that he hadn't heard of the Outback or Tony Roma's so I recommended them although he may be disappointed in the rather "paltry" portions there.

Today is one of this week's light days. I just have 001 as the lone student on my schedule. I got that haircut this morning for the first time in 3 months. My do was getting quite shaggy. And I finished off the last of Season 2 of "Doctor Who" on the video tape. As I was telling my kind benefactor for the tape, The Entrepreneur, the final parting of the ways between The Doctor and Rose Tyler was chock-full of sappy melodrama as the very first companion of the new series sobbed an ocean's worth of brine and gasping her admission of love for him. That sort of thing never happened in the original series. It was always a pretty stoic scene: the Doctor and imminently-to-be-former companion finish off another breathtaking adventure in the TARDIS with the latter stating that it was time for him or her to leave while everyone's favourite Time Lord would wave him or her goodbye and be off into the vortex without any time for any major emotional upheaval. I could imagine a number of the old fans sticking their fingers down their craw in ewwwww disgust when Billie Piper signed off. Still, just loved the exchange of insults between The Daleks and The Cybermen.

Well, 001 should be just around the corner...

Monday July 2, 7:43 p.m.

Got through with my second lesson with The Full-Timer. She had a bit of a tough time applying the Past Perfect, so I gently led her into the topic of her upcoming trip to Thailand in a few days. She's a veteran of the place so she shouldn't have any major problems...barring any coup d'etats.

Looks like Mr. TOEIC will be showing up as scheduled. Haven't heard any sudden cancellations on the phone.

That gigantic cinnamon roll from The Doughnut Plant should be categorized as a smart bomb. I'd thought it was fairly light going down but I guess absorbent should be the more appropriate adjective. I feel rather bloated right now so that a few small pieces of sushi and some Pringles is all I can take in at this time.

Monday July 2, 5:35 p.m.

Got through my first student with aplomb. It was the one-off...an oldish young man who's practicing for a fairly vital job interview at a mulitnational pharmaceuticals company. He did quite well, so he's certainly got the ambition. I didn't think either of us would survive a 90 but we managed to get along quite well.

Afterwards, The Admin and I shared a coffee and my apology offering of cinnamon rolls via The Doughnut Plant. The roll is by far the largest one I've ever seen of its kind amongst the various I've come across such as Cinnabons or Starbucks. And like its birthplace, New York, the roll was big, in-your-face, and not too sweet. However, it was also surprisingly light considering its size....must be the baking powder.

The Madame has made contact after a number of months away. Looks like we've got a "date" of sorts in Shibuya on the 20th at some tea room there. I kinda feel like Doctor Who in a way; I've always got these platonic women weaving in and out of my existence all the time. Now, if I can only regenerate into Brad Pitt's body...

Well, I've got the Full-Timer in about 20 minutes. I'm happy that the cinnamon roll will tide me over until I pick up a fast dinner before Mr. TOEIC.

MOnday July 2, 1:27 p.m.

After that little tantrum I'd pulled on the phone with The Admin on Friday night, it was a more sober me with the apology gift of cinnamon rolls, courtesy of The Doughnut Plant, that I came here today. Luckily, The Admin was gracious enough to not even have to forgive me. The boss seems a little more quieter though.

I've got a fairly compressed Monday. I've got a class in a couple of hours with one of the bossman's students since he's busy with another student. Then, it's my usual nighttime lineup with The Full-Timer and then Mr. TOEIC. Finally, I've got The Judge for a rare Monday lesson since he won't be in on Wednesday. In fact, His Honour has been filling up the schedule board in August like an I-go opening since he'll be on vacation for O-Bon.

However, the rest of the week won't be too bad. Tuesday will have The Beehive and the juku students with that open hole in between. Then, Wednesday and Thursday will be wide open. I've only got two students in as many days for that...001 and 002 respectively. I've already filled Wednesday morning with a haircut appointment and then I hope to see "The Prestige" at the nearby theatre on Thursday after 002's class. Friday will be another early one with The Nurse, though but there may be a chance I might see The Dancer and her family again in the afternoon before I have to teach The Ace and a potential new student later that evening.

Looks like I wasn't the only one who thought that Anderson Cooper's rather unprofessional behaviour doing the post-Paris analysis was deserving of some tomatoes and raspberries. Some writer at "The Washington Post" threw some very juicy fruits at him and Barbara Walters for AC's undignified handling of the case. Though I really didn't like Cooper that night and though he did deserve to be razzed by the panelists, I guess his act was really just the "bad" side of that serious crusading reporter persona he developed during Hurricane Katrina a couple of years ago to rave reviews. So, we gotta take the bad with the good...

Keeping on the media beat, it was with some sadness but no surprise to hear of Joel Siegel's passing. He was looking rather wistfully resigned to his fate the last time I saw him on TV a few months ago. I watched him for years on "Good Morning America" as he good-naturedly raved and ranted about the movies. I'm sure he and Gene Siskel are having a good time now talking about the latest flicks now.

I saw some of the latest "Doctor Who" eps...well, the remaining ones in Season 2. I saw that ep which was pretty much focused on the Doctor watchers: Elton, Ursula, etc. I recalled reading on the one of the fansites some pretty negative reviews of the show, but to be honest, I kinda found it to be rather nicely bittersweet. For every sweet thing that happened to Elton, there was an equal and opposite thing of bitterness. And we got to see a further deepening of Rose's mother's character. Plus, the main villain seemed to be an alien cousin to that Scottish assassin in the Austin Powers series. But I am approaching the end of the Rose era...since the next set of trailers talks of that premonition of her dying in battle. Of course, since I've caught myself up on the series, I know what really happens to her.

Ach...back to work.

Sunday July 1, 2:04 p.m.

So, another Canada Day is here. How does a Canadian who never celebrated Canada Day all that much in his home country celebrate Canada Day here? Answer: he doesn't.

A bit of a snarky start, I know. I've never been a huge purveyor of straight dramas on TV or in the movies...and especially in real life. So, it is through some gritted teeth that I admit that I had one of my few major blowups on Friday night...and my second with a Speedy staff member within a few weeks.
Again, it was an unfortunate combination of the usual stresses of urban living compounded with the race to get out to Fujisawa City, Kanagawa Prefecture all the way from 002's apartment in Funabashi City, Chiba Prefecture (I would say that this would be the equivalent of coming from Whitby to Burlington for all you Ontarians), the fact that I don't like to be bothered by work when I'm officially on weekend mode, and the fact that I made the mistake of checking my messages. I got a couple of garbled messages from The Admin asking to call back as soon as possible.
Well, the fuse was lit when The Admin told me that The Chef, whose lesson I'd taught earlier in the afternoon, wanted that fax of corrected notes sent back to her. Unfortunately, I had that fax with me since I wanted to use to correct some of the additional notes. The Admin told me that The Chef really couldn't wait. And so here I was rapidly rushing through my clothes to find the fax and trying to rush for the train when this little drama started to play itself out. The TNT exploded when I realized that I would have to make photocopies of everything and fax them over to The Chef at some convenience store near the hotel in Fujisawa. Regrettably, I poured out my ire on The Admin whose fault it definitely was not (hopefully, she recognized it was The Chef that I was angry at) and slammed the phone down as a final punctuation mark. I later had a message on my machine from a contrite boss stating that there will be some sort of remedy. Luckily, the Toei Shinjuku Line to Shinjuku Station was a long one so that I had plenty of time to cool off.
As it turned out, it wasn't too bad. I could catch the 18:53 express straight to Fujisawa without needing to make any connections. Even so, the express took 70 minutes to make it out there. I was indeed beyond Yokohama and closer to the famed beaches of Shonan. The area around the station was the usual conglomeration of restaurants and stores and faded neon. It took me just 5 minutes to reach the hotel and get into my room.
The next hour before I finally met my old friend, The Dancer and her family, I used to clear up the mess that The Chef had created. So with some help from the front desk staff, I managed to find a Lawson's around the corner and did my copying. Of course, it would be my luck that the fax machine was rather cranky which made the final process a whole lot longer than it needed to be.
Having gotten that done, I sent a much cooler message back to Speedy stating that I was sorry for the outburst and would apologize to The Admin on Monday in person. To be honest, although The Admin is indeed a very nice person and I am truly sorry that she did get the brunt of my rant, I've always found her to be slightly annoying...kinda giggling at inopportune moments like "The Simpsons" Dr. Hibbert. Maybe my obstreperousness can induce a bit more distance between us. However, wrong is wrong....I'll have to do some do-gesa when I get to work tomorrow.

The Dancer did contact me in my room and we all met at the Starbucks downstairs. True to form, my old friend of some 2 decades was calling the shots at the slightly befuddled cashier in English. It'd been some 6 months since our last meeting so we caught up on old times with her husband. Her kids, 7 and 4 respectively, were of course running around and playing with the automatic doors.
The next day, we all got together at the Saizeriya family restaurant on the 2nd floor for breakfast. The Dancer had to leave early to get prepped for her performances at the nearby auditorium; she had two of them in what was a daylong festival of Nihon Buyo (Japanese dancing). It would be her first as a natori, or instructor....I guess in Star Wars lingo, she was no longer a padawan but a full Jedi Knight. All of us saw her on stage but in the long intervals, the Dancer's husband and the kids with me tagging along did things such as hit the game centre to try the UFO Catchers. Man, my choice not to get married or have kids was fully supported during that time in the game centre when the younger of the two kids started having a major temper tantrum because Daddy couldn't get the banana doll he wanted...even though, Daddy did score two Stitch dolls (from "Lilo & Stitch"). Well, Daddy...who's probably one of the most even-keeled people I know...blew a gasket and dragged his son out to tell him in no uncertain terms that he should stop acting like a brat. It wasn't pleasant to see but I kinda felt vindicated since I could see that even the most patient of us had our limits....children can do that.

Well, after the long day....The Dancer got back into tourist mode and all of us went out to a nearby yakiniku restaurant for dinner. Luckily, the younger kid stayed fast asleep. Nothing less than a 3rd nuclear attack on Japan would wake him up....much to everyone's relief. The Dancer remarked that the dinner reminded us of our times in Koreantown back in Toronto.

Afterwards, The Dancer and her hubby carrying both kids trundled off back to the hotel while I made my long way back home....some 2 hours away....thinking about how I was going to make it up to The Admin....and how Speedy and I are gonna talk about The Chef.

Just had The Junior for her class today. Now, just do some domestic stuff before heading back into work the next day.

Friday June 29, 12:38 p.m.

Kiichi Miyazawa, the former Prime Minister, passed away yesterday at the ripe old age of 87. Why mention him? Well, he may have been PM before that revolving door of Japanese leaders in the mid-90s, but he was the most fluent English-speaking Japanese politician I'd ever seen on TV. He kinda sounded (and looked) like that Chinese-American actor, Keye Luke.

Once again, Tokyo beat out the other world cities in movie premieres. Last time, it was "Spiderman 3". Last night, it was the latest Harry Potter movie...I forgot the title, maybe it was "Harry Potter and the Law of Diminishing Returns" or something. Anyways, Daniel Radcliffe (fully clothed) showed up at Roppongi Hills to do his part for his cash cow...a few days before it opens up in Britain.

Speaking of jolly ol' England (OK, you Scots and Welshmen, calm down), I got the latest Doctor Who tape from The Entrepreneur. Still gotta get through the latter half of Season 2. Yep, that's right....I'm still watching Rose Tyler. Actually, strangely enough, the DVD sets for the first 2 seasons are out in the Japanese stores....never thought that there would be an audience here for The Time Lord. But am I gonna shuck out 20,000 yen even for him?

I listened to that latest CD by songbird Mariya Takeuchi, "Denim". Yep, the first track...a big band styling of "On the Street Where You Live" is the big winner here. It didn't pass the futon test, though....I pretty much dozed off halfway through the disc, but Takeuchi has that rather soothing voice. And I did listen to a bit of the latest Hiromi Iwasaki CD from 1978...yep, idol stuff from the 70s, an acquired taste but she's got the pipes to overcome it.

Friday June 29, 11:38 a.m.

Kinda interesting about garbage disposal in my neck of the woods. You leave your raw garbage outside to be ripped apart by cats and left for hours in the hot sun to fester. However, you leave a 12-year-old electric fan and 6 hours later....pffft, it's gone. That is indeed what happened to one of my oldest and dearest possessions when I had decided it was time to have it go to that big junkyard in the sky (when the cord starts glowing orange in places it wasn't supposed to, I think it's time to let it go). I just took it down to the garbage pickup at the bottom of the stairs when I went off to teach last night, and 6 hours later, it's probably now in the hands of some scavenger needing cheap air conditioning. But no problems....earlier in the day, I had bought a new fan; one of those small, cute models that doesn't have a stand. It claimed to have a silent motor. It was plenty loud enough for me. Also, I got myself a small proper ironing board, so I no longer have to rely on my sofa cushions...I'm sure my cushions are fully appreciative.

As for my two students last night...The Carolinan was good to go, and quite rarin' to head off to Hawaii with her sister and mother next week. Of course, I couldn't resist the need to assign her homework in the form of a report on her time there. As for BC....well, as it happens from time to time, I had to put on my counselor's cap last night for her. Looks like the poor lass has been suffering from depression recently. Her mind was really not on the lesson or her homework assignment which was fairly wretched...she didn't come close to answering the question. I don't think I was being too Simon Cowell-ish on her but the effect was the same: she started getting misty, so we went a half-hour overtime talking about her troubles. I hope she gets out of her funk eventually.

As for me, I've got just the Chef and 002 before I head out to Fujisawa tonight to see my old friend, The Dancer, and her clan on the eve of her performance at the community centre there. It'll be a long haul trip since I'll be going all the way from 002's apartment in Funabashi, Chiba to Fujisawa, Kanagawa...just southwest of Kamakura. That will take a good 2 hours, at least.

Well, I finally caught that media event of the year....Larry King's interview with Paris Hilton yesterday morning. All I can say is that I'll have to see it to believe it when it comes to her promises to be good from now on. Actually, it would seem that most of the watercooler talk on the Net was about Anderson Cooper's reaction to her afterwards. Some of his guests were taking a bit of the piss out of Mr. Seamanship for his barely disguised disgust and disdain over having to do the post-game analysis. I guess AC was taking a page out of the Lou Dobbs playbook. Still, I don't think Cooper did himself any favours for acting as if he had watched Paris having sex with Larry, and I think his protestations about not disliking the girl came off as being as flat as his hairdo.

Speaking of CNN's Rottweiler, Lou Dobbs was just about to jump on his desk and dance the Macarena on seeing that Immigration Reform bill die a horrible death on the Senate floor. And he was smelling good old pro-Amnesty blood when he took on that despondent Hispanic politician. I had the volume turned off but I could see the two verbally tangoing with each other like two WWF wrestlers before a grudge match.

Wednesday June 27, 4:36 p.m.

Another hot and sunny out there today. I got quite a bit done today after The Nurse's lesson. Got prepped for the other two lessons of the day, got ready for The Chef's lesson on Friday after rummaging through all that fax paper, and even did some prep for tomorrow's lessons with The Carolinan and BC. Since BC is such the Canuck-o-phile, I've whipped up a Canada Day's Quiz for her.

Since I had several hours between The Nurse and 001, I went out for a bite to eat near the station. There is a bakery retaurant right next to the convenience store; I'd been there a couple of times before. Some good stuff although it's the most expensive place compared to the other places like the aforementioned convenience store, McDonalds and China Quick. But then I should really hold back on the choices; I had myself a tuna melt, a hot dog, a salad and a raisin pastry and a glass of milk (had to be healthy in at least one aspect).

I took the subway down to Shinjuku where I got a bit of a surprise. The lineup at Krispy Kreme was no longer winding around the corner and down the bridge to Takashimaya Square. It was merely in that tightly coiled lineup in front of the shop itself. The poor saps only had to wait an hour to get their fix of doughnuts. I guess the honeymoon is nearing its end. But I'm still very stubborn on my conditions....I get to the counter in 5 minutes or it's no deal.

At Kinokuniya, I picked up another I-go book, this time by a fellow who cuts to the chase and has the reader plunge headfirst into all of the scintillating action. It should be an interesting comparison with the Peter Shotwell book I've already got. The real reason that I got the new book, though, is that it comes with its own paper set of I-go pieces and 9x9 grid.
I also came across the latest of those "Peanuts" tomes. Nearing July, the distributors weren't exactly too quick with this new issue. I'd thought it would've been out back then. Another reason to throw away some more money.

My final stop was at HMV in Takashimaya Times Square. I could no longer resist...I had to get the latest Mariya Takeuchi CD, "Denim". Takeuchi is probably, next to J-Pop Queen Yumi Matsutoya, the most veteran female crooner of J-Pop songs. Unlike Yuming, though, Takeuchi has a more widely enjoyable voice for the general masses. She's a tenor but her voice isn't husky like that of an Akiko Kobayashi or Kahoru Kohiruimaki (ah, I see my 80s JPop is showing)...it would be somewhat fit for some of those old 50s ballads, which is probably why a lot of her songs are reminiscent of those.
I was also looking for a single that has insinuated itself into my brain over the past few days since I heard it at Tower Records the other day. It's "D.A.N.C.E." by French techno duo, Justice. It has that de rigueur church boys' choir that seems to be needed for the occasional rock or hip hop song but with a danceable poppy beat. The music video may also get nommed for some MTV award....pretty good use of animated T-shirts...no doubt the real thing may happen within the next 10 years. Not sure if the song will tear up the conventional Oricon charts like what happened with that Serbian band's tune a few years back. However, I couldn't find it so instead I ended up just getting yet another Hiromi Iwasaki re-mastered re-release.
I was surprised to find out at the cashier that my HMV point card, currently at the middle colour of gray...just below the Gold Card, is now being phased out. My card will still be honoured until I reach those 100 points but the Gold is now out. I'll be able to get that 3,000-yen discount at the end but I have to go start over again with a black piece of plastic, just like a credit card and then earn myself another 100,000 yen worth of purchases before I can for the gold once more. The other surprising thing was that the cashier was actually quite friendly with me. Usually, HMV has that holier-than-thou grunge look amongst its staff.

Wednesday June 27, 12:14 p.m.

Yes, Paris Hilton has finally left the building...a fact that has garnered, deservedly or undeservedly, worldwide attention. Even in Japan, the hotel heiress-turned-walking train wreck has attracted takusan attention from the relentless and insatiable tabloid media types. To be honest, she would be given royal status from the Shibuya ko-gal types since she resembles them in so many ways (the spiky eyelashes, bronzed look, etc.). However, the regular crew on Fuji-TV's morning news show, "Mezamashi Terebi", were being somewhat catty during the featuring of Hilton's departure from the big house. They were virtually wagging their fingers and tsk-tsking at the sight of the girl sauntering (I don't think in all my years I've ever seen an ex-con saunter from prison as if she were doing the catwalk) from jail over to Daddy Warbucks' SUV.
And with all that kerfuffle about MSNBC trying to pull off that sneaky bucks-for-talk scam under the counter to get that first exclusive with Paris, it was Larry King himself who actually got first digs...supposedly for no money.

Well, after all that talk on the rise of gorn or torture porn (and here I thought that lizard creature from the original "Star Trek" cornered the rights on that word) over the past 18 months, it would seem that this so-called new type of horror has fizzled just as quickly as it soared out of the sick minds of Eli Roth and the guy behind the "Saw" series. Apparently, "Hostel 2" merely limped out of the box office like Jay Fernandez's "Paxton" in the first movie. Meanwhile, "Hostel" has arrived on SkyPerfect as a pay-per-view movie. Like any PPV, every time I've checked out the channel, I get a few scenes or a minute's worth of movie before it blacks out (for various wiring reasons, I can no longer get PPV ability). Still, I've managed to see some of the infamous stuff such as Paxton getting dragged down the dingy hallway while seeing some of the other "residents" getting tortured to death, and that Japanese girl throwing herself onto the tracks to get smushed. However, I've yet to see the so-called money shot of said girl getting her face burned off via blowtorch.
So from, from what I've seen I can't really say that I've been all that grossed out which may unfortunately reflect how desensitized I've become to violence. I mean, I think the train suicide looked very CG and the other torture victims didn't look all that put out...as cold as that sounds. To be honest, I've seen far worse in some of the local product here. Eli Roth may not hold that much of a candle to Takashi Miike but I think Miike may be in a similar situation with some of his predecessors. Before gorn, there was all that Hollywood homage to J-Horror such as "The Ring" and "The Grudge". However, I remember years ago when the video shelves seem to revel in some of the goriest Japanese movies...stuff that would make "Hostel" or "Saw" look like "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown". There is the cult "Guinea Pig " series of vivisection and dismemberment that was made back in the 80s which got over to the States and freaked out Charlie Sheen so much that he, a man not exactly known for his moral side, hailed a cinematic Red Alert. I also remember seeing stills of a cheapo horror flick called "Guzoo" in which an "Alien"-like abomination kills and eats its victims very violently from the inside of their bodies. One victim was a uniformed high school student. But even going away from the B-stuff, TV programs such as "24" and "CSI" often show the more uncomfortable aspects of murder, so perhaps it's not all that surprising that gorn has quickly worn out its welcome. Gorn won't disappear, though. There will always be that aspect of the movie-going public that will shuck out the sheckels for this niche of blood-letting. It's just that its 15 minutes are now up. Perhaps, it's now time for a return to psychological horrors.

Wednesday June 27, 9:42 a.m.

The parallels are somewhat interesting. In England, Tony Blair leaves 10 Downing Street after 10 years to head for his new post as Mideast envoy to bring some semblance of peace. In the US, Paris Hilton leaves jail after 23 days to head for her little teddy bear, Mr. Snuggles.

Anyways, in much more mundane news, I enjoyed my day off yesterday until my juku classes. It looks like the hit of the night was that box of chocolate-covered fruit peels from les bon hommes at Maison Du Chocolat in Paris (the city, not the damaged heiress), courtesy of some souvenir shopping by The Lady. I'd received it from her last Wednesday but only opened it, initially, for my fellow foodie and student, Seven. However, there was so much of the stuff that Seven actually demurred my offer of taking it home to her family. So, The Milds were absolutely crowing about it...usually when I bring any snacks, they politely just take the one piece. But for this offering, the couple went hog wild and took some extra stuff. Still, there was plenty left over for the Siberian and Jolly. I didn't give any to Chip N' Dale since I thought the chocolates were just a bit too mature for their Morinaga-influenced tastes. So for them, I just got them some jam biscuits from Mini-Stop.

It's another long day although with some large gaps in between classes. The Nurse ought to be traipsing through any minute and then some 7 hours later, it'll be 001 followed by The Judge another 90 minutes after the end of her lesson. I may step out for two hours to Shinjuku but I was greeted by a huge ream of fax paper last night at home. The Chef sought fit to send her next lesson topic to me.

Monday June 25, 10:08 p.m.

Well, another long day comes to an end. Just finished up with Mr. TOEIC...his first class with us in about 3 weeks after a marathon session of sudden cancellations or dotakyan as the young would say over here. Not exactly back to a tabula rasa but he was quite rusty. And it didn't help that he had forgotten both his homework and textbook.

This week is shaping up to be a relatively light one. Tomorrow and Thursday will only have me working in the evenings although Wednesdsay will be another long one with The Nurse for her 10 o'clock in the morning and finishing up with The Judge at about 10:30 p.m. The Lady of the Class Act ducked out again this morning since she hasn't fully kicked out her affliction quite yet. I won't be seeing the ladies again for another couple of weeks since both The Lady and SIL have to head out to Osaka next week for their father's memorial anniversary. SIL actually cancelled her lesson today due to a cold.

Well, "Pirates of the Caribbean 3" turned out to be better than I'd expected but still the weakest link in what was a pretty weak series to begin with. The first two movies had plenty of swash and buckle but for some reason, the director, Gore Verbinski, decided to pile on massive amounts of metaphysics and mythos on the supposedly final chapter. His decision pretty much smothered a lot of the fun, including the only thing that really made "Pirates" worth watching, Johnny Depp. MB remarked that the audience needed Cliff Notes to understand all the crosses and doublecrosses that were taking place in the movie. Basically, I think the movie only deserved 650 yen of the 1300 I paid for the discount ticket.

Afterwards, MB, The Satyr and their significant others along with myself met Skippy in front of the Milano where we had seen the flick. Skip had already seen "Pirates" a week earlier. She and Seven came to the same conclusion that things could've gone a whole lot better. Skippy, being the resident foodie expert, took us to Mo-Yan, that curry place-cum-manga cafe in West Shinjuku that she'd taken me to some months earlier. Despite the small surroundings and the crowds, the management was able to squeeze us into a table. Last time I was there, Skip and I had ordered the regular size curry plates which were quite big in themselves. The ordering takes a few seconds longer than usual since a customer has to not only order the size of plate (anything from an 80% of normal for the ladies to the Millenium size for the sumo wrestlers) but also the spice level; the rates go from 0 (barely any spice) to 20 (write a will). In a foolish attempt to re-live past glories, I ordered the second-biggest plate of Megaton with an order of Level 5 Curry including the works (chicken, beef, cheese, and seafood). I wasn't expecting the Tokyo Dome-like mound of rice I got...the curry was darn good but I could only tunnel through half of the white stuff before calling it quits. Luckily, the place is one of the fewest I know that will allow doggie bags, and so I have a still-formidable amount of Mo-Yan curry and rice at home ready to be devoured for lunch or breakfast tomorrow.

In any case, I think it's time for me to head on home. I've gotta clean up the place and think about what the heck I have to do with Chip N' Dale at the juku.

Saturday June 23, 12:25 p.m.

Well, after the rain of yesterday, we're back to sunny and hot today. Not quite if the precip will do anything to help any possible rain shortages. Just got that EIC student for her final class before her debut in the actual cooking class tomorrow...again, I'm not holding out any hopes for a miracle for her. She's just a very low nervous lady. Then, I have The Dentist 90 minutes later. Not sure what's gonna happen with her in the next couple of weeks since I've got my time with The Dancer's family in Fujisawa next Saturday. Maybe Speedy will be taking care of her. In the interim, I think I'll probably be doing some more editing of all that curricula for the texts.

Tomorrow will be "The Pirates of the Caribbean 3" in Shinjuku. Yep, I know...I've said that I would probably avoid it unless Movie Buddy contacted me. Well, he did, and therefore I will. Speedy had seen it last week, and he said it was OK...just keep those expectations really low. Skippy will be joining us for dinner afterwards since she'd already seen the flick a couple of weeks previously. I don't know what she thought of Johnny Depp's latest.

Friday June 22, 4:16 p.m.

The service may be surly and kids may infest some of the other booths, but I can't deny that the computers here in the neighbourhood I-cafe are a whole warp factor faster than the ailing machine I'm stuck with at Speedy's.

Well, summer has officially arrived although the heat made itself known a week or so ago. So, it's somewhat ironic (and welcome) that today has seen quite a bit of rain coming down on the Kanto Plain. Believe me, we need it here. I don't think it's gonna really top up the reservoirs but every little bit helps. I really do not want to time my showers or have to invest in Saran Wrap to put around my plates so that I don't have to wash them.

Yesterday, I just had 002 and B2. 002 did even better than 001 in her test. Both ladies scored into the nineties; I jokingly remarked to 002 that I should be squeezing more salary out of Speedy. As for B2, my monthly meet with her went pretty well. In a way, it's been good that we've only been meeting now since it basically means that the lass is more accepting of the freer conversation route. However, she ended our lesson on a bit of a cliffhanger...she said that she may ask me to go back to the biweekly plan as of August. The lady has definitely set up some long-term goals for herself. She earned a certificate in aromatherapy last year, and now she's planning to take some etiquette courses in both Western and Japanese styles. If one is looking for the definition of ojosan (proper lady) in 21st-century Tokyo, give me a call. B2 is also planning to meet her old friend, and my former student, The Ballerina later this month.

Today has also been fairly easy. I was able to have a late wake-up call since I didn't have anything in the morning. I just came back from teaching The New Yorker just before she, her sister The Carolinan and their mother head out to Hawaii for a bit of a grander Girls' Night Out in a couple of weeks. Before that, I had my lunch at the neighbourhood tonkatsu restaurant before stopping in at Maruzen to actually pick up a book on the basics of go, the Japanese version of checkers...although it more resembles the famous game of RISK in terms of aims. I'd always had a passing interest in it although circumstances have prevented me from pursuing anything near seriously. For one thing, I don't even have the board or the black and white pieces.

I also picked up the weekly issue of METROPOLIS. A few weeks ago, there was "The Last Word", an editorial which can be provided by any freelancing foreigner with two cents to put in. The responses to "The Last Word" are often put out the week after with a fair balance of positive and negative reaction. So, as I said, a few weeks ago, I read "The Last Word"; a young fellow by the name of Yusuke Takahashi put in his opinion about the ridiculousness behind the fashion trend espoused by single or married middle-aged men called "choi waru oyaji" (literally, slightly bad old farts). Takahashi did his slight rant about how a large number of the geezers and daddies in this country have been following the style of a fashion-conscious Japan-based Italian tarento and investing tons of money in various fashion houses such as Prada, Hermes and Chanel to tart themselves up almost as badly as their spouses and daughters. He even accused his own father of becoming a Japanese version of Hugh Hefner.

Well, I figured that his article was gonna hit a nerve...and this week's METROPOLIS provided the synapse. The fellow, a guy who is in his forties and (according to him) fairly wealthy, struck back at the little whippersnapper for his temerity. Ah...I should've mentioned that near the end of the article, Takahashi kinda hinted that any middle-aged guy who's still single had some issues. In any case, the offended fellow wrote a literary spanking about how guys deserve some pampering for their hard-won work, and then denied that he was somehow damaged goods emotionally or mentally just because he was still single...pointing out he had lost his wife to cancer some years back and that he hasn't been able to find anyone to match her.

I must admit that when I read the Takahashi article, I was initially stung to read the last part of all middle-aged singles being potential psychpaths. I do admit that I am still unwed and entering middle age....although rich I am definitely not. Aside from my glass of collected eyelids on my end table (hahahah...just joking...I don't have an end table), I would hardly think I am truly a danger to society because of my marital status. But then again, I realized that "The Last Word", an editorial, has to ask two things from its writers: a sense of humour (something that is admittedly subjectively reacted to) and a certain point of view. I gather that Takahashi achieved the latter condition and tried for the first one. In fact, it's entirely possible that the kid may have taken some poetic license (i.e. lying) to get his humour across; perhaps his father isn't the clotheshorse Frankenstein that was written. Over the years, I've given some great stories to my students....some of which were quite exaggerated in the hopes of getting that big laugh and in the ultimate hope of getting them to listen to me one minute more. In other words, nothing really to get worked up about. Plus, he's a kid (late teens or early twenties). Guys that age (including me) still manage to put their collective feet in their mouths a whole lot more during that time of life.

Now, in other news...

Corporate sordidness? Japan has got oodles, especially this week. The female president of Shiespa, the company whose employee annex blew up on Tuesday near The Lady's house was doing a lot of hemming and hawing when the press pressed her on the circumstances which led to the deaths of three of her employees. And the mud got worse when a number of companies involved in the maintenance of the annex started throwing fingers at each other faster than the shards which flung out within the blast radius. Then, there was the moron in charge of some sort of beef packing company who was also putting up smokescreens in front of the increasingly restive journos when it was found out that the company was smuggling in a bit of pork with the beef. But jaws started hitting the ground when the factory chief openly disagreed with his boss in at the press conference; the president started his own babbling a la Porky Pig. Then, another exec who just happened to be the suddenly besieged president's son quietly but firmly told Pops to stop lying and tell the truth. Pops then started baaing a much better tale. Just can't imagine what dinner must've been like around the family table last night.

Then, there will be more bowing and mutterings of rote apologies from the JR gang today. This morning, the JR Takasaki Line near Saitama City broke down due to some power line snapping. I saw this rather long forlorn rain-soaked line of humanity walking down the tracks like some sort of mix between that scene from "Stand By Me" and the usual lineup at Krispy Kreme. And before that, the commuters/suckers had to endure 2 incredibly arduous hours of standing/sitting/sweating in the air-conditionless cars before being allowed to disembark. I predict there are currently a lot of JR station staff with smacked faces and crumpled caps.

But in the midst of all this business gloom, Billy has arrived. Oh yes...Billy Blanks, the 51-year-old military exercise powerhouse behind "Billy's Boot Camp" landed in Tokyo yesterday with some of his fellow soldiers to bask in the accolades. It is probably the fastest pop-culture soar I've ever seen in this country. In the 2 months or perhaps even less that the frenetic commercial of BB and his crew crunching and grunting has been on, the DVDs have sold out faster than hotcakes and got themselves mentioned so much throughout the Japanese variety show zeitgeist. The proof in the pudding was having Billy show up on "SMAP X SMAP", that program which always has the international flavours of the moment appear. There was even Shingo Katori costuming himself SCTV-style as BB himself. Most likely, he's even popped up on Fuji-TV's "Waratte Ii Tomo". Some of my students have friends who are following the program or they are doing it themselves. Me? I'll stick to watching the commercial and having my canister of Chip Star.

Across the pond in the media pool of CNN, I have to ask myself, "What is up with those guys at CNN USA?" They should be changing their call letters to IHPHD...i.e. I Hate Paris Hilton Dammit. Apparently, one of the journos there got TVNewser's attention with her public dissing of the world's most glamourously dysfunctional woman. And then I saw Anderson Cooper all but roll his eyes and bang his carefully coiffed head on the wall when he mentioned the heiress to the hotel fortune. He wouldn't even mention her name. Frankly, I'm no fan of the woman myself but to see these guys, supposedly representing the world's foremost 24-hour cable news network, openly heckling her like that just doesn't smack of the greatest professionalism. But then again, a lot of us did applaud Anderson Cooper during the hell of Hurricane Katrina a few years ago when he let the mask slip and take a Louisiana pol to task for patting herself on the back for some supposed good work. Perhaps this is the dark side to "Keeping Them Honest". Still, when I see anchors and reporters acting like elitist high schoolers dissing the nerds, I actually do pine for the days when their predecessors just reported the news dispassionately and left the griping to the editorialists. So, Anderson, Betty and T.J., do me a favour and do what a lot of civilized people do when they don't like someone. Don't say anything.

Wednesday June 20, 5:46 p.m.

I knew there was something that I'd omitted. Reading the newspaper, I came across the article about former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori possibly entering the Upper House elections in July. Ahhh...American politics may be my favourite spectator sport (thank you, CNN) but occasionally, the local variety of parliamentary politics can throw me for a loop as well. One of the chuckleheads in one of the smaller opposition parties here formally asked Fujimori if he would run for election for his party; apparently, said chucklehead liked the cut of his jib, as "The Simpsons" evil boss, Mr. Montgomery Burns would say. Of course, the guy didn't mention anything about the fact that the former head of state is also a wanted criminal in Peru. If Fujimori were actually successful, he could become the first former head of state of another country to become a standing MP in this country. What helps his cause is that as a descendant of Japanese nationals, he was able to claim back Japanese citizenship.

Also, in the aftermath of NOVA finally getting its wrist slapped by the government (for the record, I don't think the president, Mr. Saruhashi, really has any regrets about some of the stunts he tried to pull; he's just sorry he got caught), the teachers have started to gripe about the working conditions in the beleaguered school. Just brings back memories from a decade back about the hobby of NOVA teachers to complain. Hmm...I wonder if it's just time for another student-impregnated-by-teacher scandal to arise to tip the school over the edge.

Wednesday June 20, 5:31 p.m.

A little more than half an hour away from the triple pack of 001, that EIC student and The Judge. Barely had anything ready for any of them up to 15 minutes ago but with all of quick copying and just-as-quick scanning of the lesson plans, I'm good to go.

It was another dinner by Mickey D's...induced by the bossman himself. Since I was heading out to get something to eat, Speedy asked me to grab a couple of cheeseburgers and an apple pie at the Golden Arches so I decided to indulge myself as well with The Big Mac set. The MegaTeriyaki Mac has reared its terrible double head since its progenitor, The MegaMac was an unexpected hit earlier this year. As I'd been telling some of the students such as The Full-Timer, I like teriyaki and I like The Big Mac but unlike Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and any other hybridized foodstuffs, I just can't get my mouth around a Teriyaki Mac. There are just some ingredients that should never be put together.

But McDonalds hasn't been the only international brand name to bring in a new dish for us to taste test. Coca-Cola has also launched two new drinks to join regular and Diet Coke. Coke Zero is Diet Coke's evil brother: jet-black label and all. According to Shard, it has an ingredient which could be construed as an alcohol....which would explain the slight buzz...and the sudden urge to jump in front of an express train. The other drink is one that I haven't seen yet: a Coke with the slight refreshing (allegedly) taste of cucumbers.