Saturday Sept. 6, 10:41 a.m.

Just finished Part 1 of that translation assignment given by The Corner. Not too, too difficult but it's always a good challenge of not just translating Japanese into English verbatim but also to get the right tone of what they are trying to say. The Saturday admin staff, Kay, has come in. She's definitely a quiet one...I think although she's come for the past few Saturdays now, we've only exchanged "Good morning" to each other.

I think I heard something that could be a cinematic car crash. Dark Horizons just posted that "Ghostbusters 3" is in production. Now, rumours being rumours, most likely the story behind it probably has more air than actual substance, but apparently the original cast of Murray, Ackroyd and Ramis are getting back together. Not sure if Ernie Hudson is also coming back; he may still be recovering from "Oz". Although I did like the first one (although the hype overrated it) and parts of the second, I'm not sure if doing another one with the original cast is probably the best thing...for one thing, both Ackroyd and Ramis are as globby-looking as Slimer now, and Murray has kinda gone into that serious, quirky movie area now. Probably a reboot a la the new "Batman" series is more sensible...get a new trio to portray Venkman, Stantz and Spengler...and definitely better and sharper writers.

Speaking of which, MB has confirmed the second viewing of "The Dark Knight" for tomorrow afternoon at the new Picadilly in Shinjuku. This time, The Satyr and Frodo will be joining us. It's been interesting...all the news has been that the movie has experienced flop sweat in Japan due to its overly dark nature, but the TokyoWalker satisfaction tracking system has shown its highest ratings for it. In any case, I'm wondering if it will stand up to a second viewing.

Saturday September 6, 10:07 a.m.

Saw The Ace last night. He and his girlfriend had a good time traveling through rural Fukushima Prefecture which is about a couple of hours north of Tokyo by Bullet Train. He got me and the juku boss a couple of packages of Mamadoru Cakes...pretty dense numbers which require a good strong cup of coffee.

Back for another round of Saturday classes...ugh, my shoulders are killing me. I'll be looking forward to my free Saturday next week. I've got The Intellectual for his first class in about a month, followed by The Businesswoman whom I also haven't seen for a month, and finally a model lesson student. It would be interesting comparing The Businesswoman with the Hip-Hop Girl...probably just 7 years separate the two but you couldn't find more contrast than between these two. The Businesswoman looks like she was born to wear power suits while Hip-Hop could immediately bust a move on the streets of LA.

Well, the search for the new President of the Liberal Democratic Party is starting to look like an American Presidential Primary....or the cast of "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World". Apparently, some more folks have entered the fray besides the five who have already announced a run to fill Fukuda's soon-to-be vacated post. Maybe Aso should start polishing off his policy positions after all. Maybe it won't be so much of a coronation.

Ah...new congratulations to Shrek and Fiona. They got their second kid just a few days ago.

Friday Sept. 5, 7:35 p.m.

While the US elections have finally entered the final phase of their 2-year battle for The White House, over here in Japan, the government has started its own search for a replacement PM in earnest...well, in point of fact, the president of the leading party, the Liberal Democratic Party, who will be the de facto Prime Minister. Just a few days after PM Yasuo Fukuda threw in the towel, three men have thrown in their hats. Kaoru Yosano is the Economics Minister. Of course, Taro Aso is the man to beat since he was seen as the guy waiting in the wings last year after Fukuda got the nod. And there is Nobuteru Ishihara, a former minister and member of a political/show business clan...a J-Rat Pack, if you will. Nobuteru is the son of the current firebrand governor of Tokyo, Shintaro, the elder brothre of the Fuji-TV weathercaster and tarento, and nephew of the late legendary Yujiro Ishihara, the singer/hard-boiled actor. Couldn't get more connected than that. And CNN is reporting that Yuriko Koike has also decided to officially join the fray. She's currently a minister of something but was once a newscaster for TV Tokyo and speaks fluent Arabic.

Friday Sept. 5, 5:42 p.m.

Finished the final class of The Hip-Hop Girl. Gotta admit that for a teenaged girl who dresses like Beyonce, she was actually good people. I downloaded sheets of the TV Guide listings for Orange County for her since she was rather keen to know about what television was like over there. She immediately circled MTV and VH1...as I figured. I hope she does well over in her new school.

Well, I'm just about ready to head over to the juku...

Friday September 5, 2:57 p.m.

The rest of my time here yesterday was pretty good. The Yogist and The Dentist were fine; as it turned out, The Manhattanite pulled out her appointment as quickly as she had put it in. Miss Sedona used her return from the States to show me five full albums of her pictures in San Francisco and Sedona, Arizona (I think one of John McCain's houses is in the area)...as I figured she would. She had a grand ol' time there and her pics reflected some very good angles of the two cities. It was obvious that she loved Haight-Ashbury and cable cars. Her pics in Sedona had the familiar ring of Mrs Travel's photos in the form of lots and lots of Big Sky and mesas. She even showed me an embedded church in one of the bluffs in Sedona; apparently, one of Nic Cage's houses is right across from it. My souvenir from her was a box of Ghiradelli Chocolates, and I also got this tidbit from her....she now aims to pursue her dream of actually going over Stateside to live there...at least for a while. I can understand her feeling.

Right after Miss Sedona, the Hip-Hop Girl came in for her second of three lessons. We went over some hairstyling vocabulary involving lots of hairstyles. We were able to wring out some good talk about it. She was rather shocked about how many channels one could get on American TV; I didn't quite tell her that often enough there was still nothing to watch. She then showed me one of her videos on YouTube performing her dance with her best friend/partner which got her second prize.

Got home at a nearly obscenely early time last night...around 8 p.m. Caught that music program "Utaban" with Takaaki Ishibashi (the Japanese fellow from "Major League 2") and the SMAP leader, Nakai-kun, on TBS. I hadn't seen the program in several months. The kid who sang the theme song from the latest Studio Ghibli flick, "Ponyo", was there. Of course, Ishibashi didn't fail to tease the heck out of her. Then, it was one of those awkward meshings between the Gold Medal-winning Women's Softball Team with the band Every Little Thing whose lead singer, Kaori Mochida, has about as much enthusiasm for TV appearances as she would for a colonscopy.

About 11:00, just as I was about to enjoy the first good night's sleep in a couple of days , my telephone rang. I'd thought it would be Speedy to tell me that someone had cancelled a class or that someone had put in a last-minute reservation. However, it turned out to be The Bohemian which was a bit of a surprise. I thought he was gonna try to ply me with another request to meet him for dinner. It turned out he was out in East Tokyo at some sort of izakaya and he actually asked me if he could crash at my place for the night. It wasn't very Christian of me, but I rejected him immediately. Afterwards, I felt kinda bad about not accomodating him...even him, but frankly his request came in a bit too late for me to oblige.

I actually was able to watch some of the final night from the Republican National Convention. Things did liven up considerably since that mausoleum-like first night due to Hurricane Gustav. Sarah Palin had shown why she is called The Barracuda the night before by plowing into Obama and the Democrats. And then I saw some of John McCain's acceptance speech. No, he will never be compared to Obama when it comes to oratorical skill but he still gave a pretty good accounting of himself and his past as a war hero.

And I'm back here to have the final lesson with The Hip-Hop Girl before seeing The Ace at the juku tonight.

Thurs. Sept. 4, 11:28 a.m.

Pretty much a fun ride for Grandma Dynamite and myself. Just gabbed on Canada and her son's secretive approach on his fiancee. Always like it when things click from the get-go. Hopefully, the rest of today's lessons will be like this one.

Haven't seen any of the Republican National Convention in St. Paul but according to the CNN website, it looks like McCain's bunch are out hunting wabbits and Senator Obama is getting whacked. Obama didn't get that much of a bounce despite his rock-n'-roll convention last week, so just wondering if this fusillade will really hurt him.

Thursday September 4, 8:37 a.m.

Typical start to a Thursday morning. Got into the office at 8 after a McBreakfast and then just gabbed with The Patent Attorney for a few minutes before Speedy spelled me. Since my dietary regime changed, I've been taking more notice of the calories. In fact, I checked out the caloric intake of a Big Mac set...as expected, it came to around 1000 calories. There is also nothing like a few friends to bring one down to earth, either. Over the past couple of nights, I've been showing my results to a few of the students due to their connection to the medical industry. Mr. Mild was a medical supplies sales agent, 001 is a medtech and The Diver is a full-fledged nurse. All of them whistled when they saw my LDL Cholesterol numbers and told me to get on that treadmill lickety-split. This reaction was in great contrast to the doctor at the clinic who had told me that things weren't too bad.

The next few Wednesdays could be a bit sparse. 001 will be off on her Middle East trip for the next couple of weeks while The Fashion Designer is off to Shanghai next week. Today, though, will be a Hump Day. I've got Grandma Dynamite, The Yogist, The Pharmacist and The Hip-Hop Girl...and then The Dentist had to cancel her lesson on Saturday so she's slotted herself in as my last lesson. Speedy even tried to get me to teach The Manhattanite tonight. As much as she's a good lass, I just wasn't willing to give up a rare Thursday night off.

Wednesday Sept. 3, 12:15 p.m.

Finished up with that Hip-Hop Girl for her first official lesson. She was 5 minutes late, so I was cynically wondering if she'd just decided to abandon her attempts to brush up on her English since she hadn't paid anything yet. But she did show up and we talked a bit on her American education in a Paul Mitchell school. We went into the different types of hair and I've just downloaded an entry from Wiki. That should keep us going for tomorrow's session.

Well, got basically nothing until 001's lesson at 6 but I'll be busy getting ready for the evening lessons and slogging on with those translations for The Corner. I may find out what was possibly eating 001 on Sunday after Baker Bounce.

Wednesday September 3, 8:54 a.m.

The Milds and The Traveler had a pretty good lesson together last night. Again, it was a case of leveling the playing field a bit...making it a bit easier for The Traveler while making it a bit more challenging for The Milds. The Traveler had encountered a bit of drama over the weekend by apparently falling down a flight of stairs and breaking her fall...with her head. She found out what the inside of an ambulance looked like, but otherwise nothing serious.

Jolly did show up for his 90. It was a freewheeling session. The first third of the class was going over the diet counter thingie that I'd received from the clinic earlier yesterday. Since the two of us seem to be brothers-in-arms when it comes to metabolic syndrome, we were marveling at some of the caloric surprises of the dishes. For example, a bowl of tonkotsu ramen...long reputed to be loaded with calories...is actually considerably lighter than a typical Big Mac set. However, it contains a king's ransom of cholesterol; looking at the soup makes that rather evident. The last third of the lesson contained talk on his somewhat latent otaku-like tendencies. He was intrigued about the main Mandarake HQ in Nakano and the old CD store, Otokichi. He was definitely curious about Halloween and the goings-on in Roppongi during the witching hour. That will probably mean yet another run to the supermarket for pumpkins.

Well, I started my first full day in the new dietary regime by heading for that Jonathan's family restaurant branch near Speedy's. That slacker-ish waiter was there to lead me in. I ended up having the Scrambled Egg Breakfast Plate for 598 yen and 600 kcal. According to how much I should be eating, I've already used up a third of my daily allowance.

One would think that the resignation of PM Fukuda would still be consuming the news but now it's been hijacked once more by allegations of drug use in the sumo world. Now it's a couple of Russian brothers-turned-rikishi who were spot-checked and discovered to have marijuana in their blood. Probably from some guy in Roppongi...yeah, that's the ticket.

Tuesday Sept. 2, 7:02 p.m.

Suzanne and I are getting settled into that comfortable pattern of chatting and practicing that Seven and I used to over a year ago...except that Suzanne actually does speak English for most of it. Now that she's had her taste of life in the outside world, she's expressed a desire to live overseas for a bit longer...say 1 or 2 years. I told her to go for it. She was a bit worried about the age situation since she's at the "ripe old age of" 26. I reassured her that she wouldn't end up as a modern-day Urashimataro or Rip Van Winkle. She's also gotten into "The O.C." big time...I kinda teased her about the big shock at the end of the final season (she's only in Season 1 right now)...where Mischa Barton's Marissa ends up dead....but didn't give the reveal.

Now, in less than an hour, I've got The Milds and The Traveler. That'll be a bit more challenging...could help lower my cholesterol.

Tuesday September 2, 4:12 p.m.

Yup, the summer is indeed back....Mr. Mild need not panic about the quality of rice after all. If this week keeps up with these temps, there should be a nice bumper crop this Fall...that is, for those rice paddies which weren't inundated by the floods of last week. As for me, I'm trying not to wither too badly.

Tell you who's not coming back, though. Prime Minister Fukuda tendered his resignation last night after less than a year in office. With him and previous LDP stooge leader Abe, it's starting to harken back to the 90s when it seemed like there was a revolving-door policy when it came to leading the nation...before the age of Koizumi. The Opposition was shaking its fist in indignation at the "sudden" departure of Fukuda. To be honest, people were saying some months earlier that he was probably gonna be flying the coop sometime in the Fall.

So, now we come to another Autumn for not just picking fruits and veggies, but also of Japanese Prime Ministers. The wide shows this morning were already making their bets. It looks like Taro Aso...the heir apparent who lost to Fukuda last year...will finally get the nod. China and Korea weren't thrilled....the former labeling him as "a big mouth" and the latter stating that it would be a nightmare if he were to come into power. Even some folks here, including me, think he looks not unlike a thug in a polyester suit, but apparently he has some popularity across the board since he's pretty rightwing in his thinking...along the lines of Junichiro Koizumi. Kinda wonder if he will suddenly create a cult following like Koizumi did in his first year in office. He does have his love of manga and can speak English well but I think he looks too much like a regular LDP hack to generate much charisma. I can also imagine that a lot of English-speaking detractors will be more than willing to use a common epithet that sounds like his last name to describe him.

The interesting thing, though, is that, according to one wide show which had the pictures of possible contenders for PM, there were two smaller pictures of women politicians behind the big one of Aso. Seiko Noda and Yuriko Koike may be in the wings for now.

All of this political intrigue was happening while I was stuck on CNN looking at the latest in Hurricane Gustav and its effects on the Republican National Convention. There was quite a difference between it and the rock concert that was the Democratic National Convention last week. The RNC looked like the annual stockbroker's meeting for not a particularly popular company. However, I'm sure all that talk about Bristol Palin and her pregnancy will keep the media enthralled for the next few days.

As for me, I went back to the clinic where I had my checkup a few weeks ago to get my results. Happily, the damage wasn't too bad at all. I'm only slightly higher in one form of cholesterol. In reaction, I bought a simple, cheap broiled salmon on rice bento with a salad.I also found out that I am 22 kg overweight....about 44 lbs. Ouch! Well, having to juggle The Milds with The Traveler, teaching that Hip-Hop Girl for the next three days and dealing with the summer heat and humidity may help shave some more weight off.

Monday Sept. 1, 10:39 p.m.

Medicine Man has gone home so we're basically ready to wrap things up here. Both Speedy and I are feeling pretty tuckered out. Kinda wondering if the ventilation is to blame.

Tomorrow, I gotta head on out to the clinic and get the bad news on my checkup...and I'm sure there will be a good deal of tsk-tsking in the report. We'll see...I'll probably be heading on out around the same time as I did when I went to the checkup a few weeks earlier...but I'll be having breakfast for sure this time.

Back on Saturday night, I actually caught that ol' Will Smith chestnut, "Independence Day". Yup, it had plot holes as big as those spaceships but I think it's just like "Star Wars" in that it was another one of those homages to hokey and wholly entertaining sci-fi invasion movies of the 50s. And for some reason, I still get rather verklempt near the end when Randy Quaid's character comes racing up in his jet for that final strike against the saucer...must be the soundtrack. As MB would say to me, I cannot and will not defend it against the naysayers but I've seen far worse and duller wastes of my time.

Anyways, time to close down...

Monday Sept. 1, 7:18 p.m.

Just finished with The Full-Timer. Looks like she's ready to fly the coop come the end of next month. She and her colleagues have been suffering from the classic work-related disease of "My supervisor is a psychopath".

Only Speedy and I are in the house. Betty is ailing tonight and can't come in for her shift. Just The Medicine Man in a couple of hours. The weather today has been fine, though we're back to hot and humid again. In fact, I think it's the first day in over a week that we haven't had any precipitation...knock on wood; there are still 5 more hours in the day.

Monday Sept. 1, 5:43 p.m.

Just tackled a bit of that translation project. It's on hot springs...man, a lot of diseases for me to decipher there.

Read something on "Dark Horizons" about how much of a flop "The Dark Knight" has been in Japan. Earlier, The Publicist had also said that it was not doing very well here. The reason stated in the article was that it was frankly too dark. I don't think that's necessarily the case...the one film that launched that brief spate of J-Horror remakes and pale children with heavy mascara, "The Ring" didn't exactly end in sweetness and light either. I think it's because Japanese audiences don't have any particular connection with American comic book characters; the mythology just hasn't been in this country long enough and I don't think it ever will. The Publicist also said that "The Incredible Hulk" was a flop here, and most likely, "Ironman" won't make too much of a dent here either when it comes at the end of this month. I'll have to get confirmation from The Publicist next class, but it seems, though, that "Spiderman" is the one exception....perhaps because Peter Parker is a relatable, attainable character.

Monday September 1, 4:30 p.m.

September 1...Disaster Prevention Day here in Japan and the kids are back in school. Meanwhile, Stateside, it's probably the Jerry Lewis Labour Day Telethon and perhaps the Republican National Convention, depending on what Hurricane Gustav does.

Yesterday, I met 001, 002 and her hubby, plus Speedy and his wife for some burgers at Baker Bounce in Tokyo Midtown. Surprisingly, the manager there was very accomodating and managed to get us a table to seat all of us. 001 even tried some root beer for the first time while 002 and her husband gave some really dry Wilkinson Ginger Ale a go. Everyone except me had burgers while I, in the interests of trying something different, went for the Fats Waller Triple Decker Sandwich. It was good...and easier to handle than the usual gloopy burger. I also had a large chocolate milkshake which probably didn't help my cholesterol count any. It all went well but 001 suddenly shut down and got rather distant near the end of our binge...not sure if I'd offended her in some way or the root beer didn't agree with her. Maybe I'll find out on Wednesday. As for 002, I won't see her for about a month since she's busy at work and she and hubby will be headed out for the Maui Marathon later this month.

Things got back to normal for a Monday. The Class Act got together again...for some reason, The Chef was maganimous enough to make lasagna for both The Matron and me. Still, I ended up using a coupon to get a double decker burger set at Wendy's....I'll never learn. Gonna have to memorize the fact that Wendy's burgers are just a bit too greasy for my liking. I prefer the chicken burgers much better. I also saw SIL after a month off. Gregarious as usual.

I have The Full-Timer in about 80 minutes and then it'll be Medicine Man to wrap up later tonight. I actually got a job for translation on Saturday. The Corner sent me some stuff based on Hokkaido for which I have two weeks to get translated and back to him.

Saturday August 30, 1:57 p.m.

Finished up with The Publicist. A bit more of a slog due to the material. Also gleaned some information about her job. Apparently, all of the celebs under her charge have rejected the sweet bean paste known as anko here...no big surprise, although I think it's really no different from chocolate....but they crave the famous Kobe beef.

I actually got word from my old student, The Stick, from my ol' school days. She's a huge Star Wars fan and asked about my trip over to Makuhari Messe several weeks ago for that Star Wars convention there. I told her that she'd have to be the biggest collector or the biggest groupie to appreciate it. I'm neither...which is why I only stayed an hour and donated my 4,000 yen. Speaking of which, "The Clone Wars" did start up a couple of weeks ago in Japan. MB and I had been thinking of catching it, but the reviews have been horrible to say the least, and since MB had a very bitter taste in his mouth about "Revenge of the Sith", we've decided to wait until it came out on DVD.

And also speaking of blasts from the past, Slim actually did call back after his no-show a couple of weeks ago. He came up with this rather cockamamie excuse that he completely mixed up the dates although we made sure of it a couple of times during his last lesson. A bit of an idiot, he is.

Saturday August 30, 11:33 a.m.

We were pretty squally last night. During the wait for Jolly and Jolly's lesson itself, Urayasu seemed to get periodic orchestras of precipitation. I swear that Japan is becoming increasingly tropical in terms of weather. I can imagine that a number of national weather forecasters will be making appointments with mental health specialists in the coming days.

Jolly was his usual eponymic self. He was regaling me with his love and access to golf. He went up to some course up in Tochigi Prefecture the other weekend. It only cost him 5,000 yen to do 18 holes...that is indeed a miracle worthy of Tiger Woods in this country, considering that club fees in Japan usually have three more zeroes. Also we got into the differences between Japanese comedy and American comedy. The former is all about either: 1) one-person pin geinin who get their fifteen minutes of fame by just spouting out some inanity which ends up becoming one of the catchphrases of the year here, or 2) comedic duos who do the same shtick a la Abbott & Costello over half a century ago. Folks here usually can't seem to decipher some of the humour from sitcoms like "Friends" or "Seinfeld". And jokes that seem to fall flat at the various drinking parties often get tagged as "American jokes" Jolly admitted that when he was a high school student, he couldn't understand what was so funny with Jim Carrey's "The Mask". I feel like I'll have to be a bridge between our two cultures. In any case, I directed my padawan's attention to Robin Williams on YouTube.

It's still pretty cloudy but not sure if it's gonna rain or not. Recently, it's been a crapshoot about the probability of precipitation...which is probably why the weather folks have probably been running for their Ritalin. One thing for sure, though. The humidity and some of the heat have come back. I'm starting to get that sticky gum feeling again.

Ahhh, gosh-darn that John McCain. You can always depend on him to pull one of those way-out stunts to get the media attention back on him, after all that Obama-mania in Denver several hours before. Case in point: bringing in Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska to be his running mate. The surprise for me was slightly blunted since I'd read a headline about her being considered as a dark horse on CNN.com at the juku last night. However, when I got home and turned on the cable channel itself, the BREAKING NEWS sign was flashing with its bumblebee colours and crowing that Palin was no longer a longshot but a potential heartbeat from the presidency. The pundits were, to put it in a word, gobsmacked. Even veterans like David Gergen admitted that they could've been knocked over by a feather when they got the news. McCain's choice was so far out of right (remember we are talking about the Republican party) field that he would've gotten a calmer reaction by nominating Michael Palin from "Monty Python".

But, y'know...despite Governor Palin having even less experience on foreign policy and national politics than Barack Obama...her selection could perhaps pay off.

And that is why I have my own TOP 5 list of reasons that Governor Sarah Palin may actually get John McCain the presidency:

5. She has that special gene that Mary Tyler Moore has of being able to turn the world on with a smile.

4. She will introduce the wonders of Mooseburgers and Arctic Char to the continental U.S.

3. That cute way she'll scrunch up her face in intense study when her advisers teach her about taxation.

2. Palin is eminently more parodiable by the "Saturday Night Live" performers than Joe Biden.

1. At her first Vice-Presidential press conference, all the reporters will be looking forward to her saying "You like me, you really like me."

Friday August 29, 7:29 p.m.

At the juku now. After having one final Big Mac lunch with Speedy before the price hike takes place on September 1st, I ended up playing some of those Mesmo TV games via Facebook for about an hour. I'm sure Ray must've been thinking about why I got to play computer games. I would frankly have no self-control in Vegas...which is probably the reason that I'm the only one in the family who still hasn't been there.

In any case, my pay from the juku this month is quite a bit lower due to the O-Bon holiday but I more than made up for it at Speedy's, so no big problems here. And I've got The Class Act and SIL coming back on Monday, plus The Beehive in the 2nd week, so that'll be some welcome income back.

Just have the one lesson at Speedy's tomorrow...The Publicist. A bit of a bummer although I don't blame my student at all. Just the circumstances.

Friday August 29, 3:07 p.m.

She came in rolling in like Beyonce. Yup, the model lesson student traipsed on in in her hip hop duds...extra large T-shirt and short cutoffs with huge frizzy hair and eyelashes that could sweep dirt off the wall. I thought "ooooh, boy...got a live one here".

Well, she turned out to be a pretty decent person actually. Man, 19 years old...felt like a grandfather already. Pretty fluent but with the usual linguistic deficits that would mark her as a foreigner. She'll be heading off to the wilds of California and learning hairdressing and dance. Basically, for the set of three she's reserved our school for, it'll be an "anything goes" attitude.

Saw just a bit of the Obama acceptance speech on CNN.com. Yup, it's definitely a historically Obama moment. The baritone voice, the stentorian delivery. Obama Girl will be swooning as 80,000 people were.

After that rather whirlwind hour with Beyonce, I'm just decompressing and waiting for Speedy to grab some McD meals. Then, I can think about heading over to the juku.

Friday August 29, 11:35 a.m.

Barack Obama is probably nearing the end or has finished his acceptance speech. I was able to catch Al Gore and Stevie Wonder do their thing for him before I had to take off. As the end of political conventions go, it sure didn't look like a typical meeting of dark-suited pols; it was more like one big New Year's party. Still, it was good that David Gergen brought things down to earth and said that the decision is far from made. Apparently, Wolf Blitzer was even having a bit of a dance with Donna Brazile. I think that would be a truly YouTube worthy scene, only topped by seeing Jack Cafferty actually tapping his toes.

While Toronto might have had the rainiest July in its history, it looks like all of Japan may end up with the wettest August in its history. Warnings have been scrolling across the screen all morning on almost all of the channels. I was kinda hoping that would kill this model lesson in a couple of hours with that hip-hop high school student, but such has yet to be. It was certainly raining a menagerie last night in Ichigaya when I had The Carolinan. Not a great lesson...since the ambient noise level was pretty high. I think both of us were getting pretty annoyed by the end of the lesson.

Aside from the model lesson, I've only got Jolly tonight...supposedly at the juku. I'm kinda hoping that he does dotakyan but unfortunately, he only does so at the 11th hour.

Thursday August 28, 2:10 p.m.

Finished up with The Yogist just now. Still as giddy as ever. We spoke on her better-than-average celeb sightings. Her latest sighting was jazz pianist Chie Ayado at an Azabu-Juban boutique (for those fellow Torontonian Canucks who need a cross-reference: Azabu-Juban is kinda like Yorkville). She's seen three Prime Ministers and the comedic duo Downtown, among other folks. She's also rather fond of that lost art known as the afternoon nap. She's lucky enough in her schedule to take a nice 2-hour siesta almost everyday. For me, I'd be lucky if I could get one nap a year.

Been checking out the CNN videos of the DNC. Over the past several weeks, the McCain camp has been needling Obama and his crew about his supposed status as a vapid celebrity. Well, John may have a case considering that Barack pulled a surprise appearance after his running mate, Joe Biden, had finished his nomination speech. It reminded me whenever Frank Sinatra or Bob Hope crashed "The Tonight Show" during the years of Johnny Carson. In any case, all that's needed now is for the official Democratic nominee to give his big speech tomorrow. I may be at home to actually catch that one live.

Thursday August 28, 11:57 a.m.

Grandma Dynamite was all right today...no major lapses in memory. She could be on a streak. The Carolinan confirmed the lesson back at the old place. And it looks like 002 will be unavailable for the entirety of September. Urk...there goes that income. Mind you, she had said that she would've only been open just twice next month, so it's only 7,000 yen out. However, I'm not sure how Speedy would feel about that. The Satyr gave his first response after getting back from London; looks like he wants to see "The Dark Knight" on the 7th.

I've been enjoying my old compilations of "The Onion". Those guys are fearless...just 2 weeks after the events of September 11, 2001, they were at it again poking fun...not sure how much security they needed and how long they needed it for.

Thursday August 28, 8:40 a.m.

Man, those late night-early morning transitions are gonna be the death of me one day. I'll probably enter the subway and never leave it.

The Diver was kinda having one of her neurotic nights...lack of sleep, she said. She certainly sapped my energy reserves...plus, it didn't help that the laptop computer was also as neurotic as her. Luckily, The Fashion Designer was a nice way to end the night on. Always easy to converse with her.

Got Grandma Dynamite as usual...followed by The Yogist, also one of my favourites. Then, it's The Carolinan but since I'm finishing up here early I'll have to see her at our old haunt. Will mean that extra 500 yen for the latte but a change in venue is never bad.

Finally got confirmation from 001 for Sunday; she was never one for e-mail. She did say that she was a bit nervous about Speedy joining us but I told her that Mrs. Speedy would possibly join us so she can keep the leash on him.

Kept The Patent Attorney entertained for about 15 minutes before Speedy took over. Today's topic was on the neighbourhood of Nakano for which I've become a fairly frequent patron of late. Although he said that he'd never been there before, he did know that it was a second Akihabara in terms of manga and anime supplies, and even mentioned the Maid Cafes. I told him that there weren't any such cafes there...as far as I knew, although I did tell him about that mama-san cafe I glimpsed some time ago (he readily shuddered at the thought). And then I told him about the Butler Cafes populated by handsome, well-coiffed men in tuxes. I warned him not to tell his wife and daughter about them.

Well, I guess Hillary Clinton really did have that secret weapon. And it wasn't the speech...that was no secret. She did get that game-winning RBI last night. Nope, the secret weapon was kinda short-circuiting the roll call by proposing that Barack Obama be nominated by acclamation. Again, since I'm pulling early duty here, I couldn't see the mayhem that must've followed but apparently the audience gave a resounding YES and exploded in ear-shattering cheering. There were some boos when Massachusetts proudly touted its sports teams like the Bosox but that was probably a bunch of New Yorkers. So, members of the feared anti-Obama contingent have now been either been assuaged or permanently thrown into the McCain camp. In any case, Barack Obama is now officially the first African-American candidate for US President. And the Republicans now have to work to do.

Wednesday August 27, 6:54 p.m.

Found out that I've gotta do a model lesson on Friday with a hip-hop kid who'll be heading over to Orange County for a 1-year homestay. Ugh! Both Speedy and I agreed that neither of us are quite ideal teachers for a kid like her. And I still have (non-)memories of that slacker hip-hopper son of that ol' school student who basically never showed up for my private lessons a couple of years ago. Well, we all gotta suffer for our art.

Finished off my salad and so-men just now for dinner. I think after having a Big Mac set just a few hours ago, that probably should fit the bill for the rest of the evening. I've just got The Diver and The Fashion Designer.

Wednesday August 27, 5:09 p.m.

It's starting to cloud over something fierce. Once again, we may be given that dinnertime deluge that's been marking most of August. Good timing that I got back into the school.

Pretty much nothing came out of my 3.5-hour recce through Shibuya and Ginza. Went over to Tower Records, HMV and Recofan in Tokyo teens' answer to Mecca and found nothing that I needed to get. Plenty of gyaru strutting about in their makeup and hooker boots, though. Wondered how much they charged per hour.

Stopped off in Shiodome to see if I could grab some hot dogs at Nathan's, but it looks like the summer holidays were still going on for the families. The place was packed so I just ended up going to the local McDonalds. Walked down the Ginza strip and took a look at Krispy Kreme #2 in Itocia. Yup, still lining up around the corner. It's a wonder that the customers still haven't started looking like the donuts themselves.

It sounds as if Hillary Clinton hit that deep-to-right triple. Nope, it wasn't a homer...CNN said that there were a few pockets of folks in the convention centre who stubbornly refused to give, but I think they made their minds up long ago to either not vote or go with McCain instead. Still, the pundits gave her the high marks so that little mission is now over. Now it's Obama's turn to seal the deal.

Wednesday August 27, 12:06 p.m.

Received a minor bombshell from The Pessimist...but I guess from my code name for him, it shouldn't have been too surprising. He's decided to give up the goat, so to speak, for the time being. He cited a number of personal reasons...busy schedule, depression, money, etc. And he isn't exactly near the end of his contract; he still has 10 more lessons coming to him, but he said that it could be a few months before he decides to come back again; I think he will since that's a good chunk of yen he's leaving in limbo. He was acting more forlorn than usual so I had to do The Dancing Bear with him and talk about ramen throughout Japan. We're both tonkotsu fans...that is, we're great connoisseurs when it comes to the famed ramen hailing from Fukuoka in Western Japan with that bone-white soup leached from pork bones. I learned from him that the real tonkotsu soup is actually quite watery although the great flavour is still imbued in it. I had always thought that tonkotsu was nearly globby. So, then I gather that the shop, "Akai Noren" in Maru Biru near Tokyo Station really does sell the real McCoy.

In any case, I'm out another student. Speedy will not be too happy about this state of affairs although his renewal was still several weeks away. And my Friday will now be nearly entirely empty except for Jolly's 90 in the evening...that is, if my juku student doesn't dotakyan.

Wednesday August 27, 10:26 a.m.

Had the second lesson with the newly-improvised trio of The Milds and The Traveler. That was more in keeping what I'd feared about the new addition. She can understand pretty well but her vocabulary is way lower than The Milds, although in terms of fluency, she can hold her own. Afterwards, the boss and I agreed that if anything is gonna change, it'll happen in the next couple of weeks. As for Mr. Mild, he did go up Mt. Fuji a couple of weeks ago. He continued his image as a quietly tough ol' bird...didn't suffer any altitude sickness at all although he saw a lot of folks heaving on the side of the road. Apparently, the cup ramen at the canteens along the way cost 700 yen...7 times more than they would down at sea level. Talk about price gouging.

Will have The Pessimist in about half an hour. Then, it's pretty much nothing for 8 hours and change. May drop down to Shibuya for the first time in a number of weeks since The Class Act has been on hiatus.

As usual, I've only been able to catch the pre-game parts of the Democratic National Convention in Denver. So I'll be missing out on what could be the decisive speech of the entire left-wing love-in...Hillary Clinton's speech telling her rabid supporters to let her go and take hold of Obama. She'll need to hit a home run...if she's lucky, she'll probably get a triple. However, possibly to James Carville's possible relief, there has been some red meat thrown out there to the party faithful by Governor Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania and Congressman Dan Kucinich. But it'll be Hil's speech that Barack's fortunes may be hinging on.

There have been a couple of more apartments going up in the last several weeks in my neighbourhood. One is being built over a parking lot while another is being constructed over what used to be a disused lumberyard. The latter one actually looks pretty enticing but I'm sure the key money and other security payments will mean that I'll never get a shot at it. Also, the fact that it's across from the elementary school definitely makes it a no-go.

Tuesday August 26, 7:07 p.m.

As expected, Jolly has dotyakan'ed. I get to go home after The Milds. However, he did say that he would come for Friday night. Therefore it'll be the second Donut Day of the week.

Had Suzanne for the hour just now. Interesting kid, that one. She admitted that she had been groped by those subway chikan in the past...back then, there hadn't been a law banning the activity. I finally learned from her the meaning for that most teenage of epithets, "Uzzai yo!" It just means "What a pain in the ass!" It may not sound like much in English but has quite a depth of meaning in the original Japanese. Suzanne is also one of those millions of women here who have taken up the wonderful world of yoga.

One of the nice benefits of working here is getting free food from time to time. I always get the free iced coffee in the summers. And now I have a plate of sliced pears on my table. Never a problem.

Tuesday August 26, 4:33 p.m.

Kinda misting out there right now. It may be cooler but the humidity is still just as oppressive. Almost feel like turning on the AC but I'd be afraid of ending with a layer of frost all over me.

Got the word from Speedy that Prissy has canned her lesson for tomorrow...which leave me with yet another Donut Day to deal with. Between the Pessimist and the Diver, there will be an 8-hour and 15-minute hole. I think it may be time for another recce out there, provided that the weather is better.

Came into the juku to see a quiet pooch in a cage at the genkan. The boss had told me last Friday night that her niece would be back in town with her dog in tow. Not really me for me to say, but I'm not too comfy with a dog in a cage. However, the boss' cousin's family has flown the coop after the weekend. I caught just the beginning of their invasion into the house. Apparently, one of the little tykes had a bedwetting episode on one of the futon, so right now, there is a rolled-up mattress beside me that would want to get dry but can't, because of the weather out there.

Forgot that Jolly owes the juku an extra half-hour so I've gotta teach him for 90 minutes tonight. UGH! But he could always cancel at the last minute.

Tuesday August 26, 1:04 p.m.

Went off to see 002 this morning. The night before I'd invited Speedy and his wife to the burger lunch at Baker Bounce this Sunday. 001 and 002 have traditionally been a bit skittish about the bossman...I guess, sometimes, Speedy does show an overabundance of personality, but that's true for any entrepreneur. 002 was quite nervous when I told her but she reassured that she would be OK. I've also sent advance word to 001...to be honest, I'm pretty sure she'll still come. I also got a melon bread from The Baker in tribute. Unfortunately, she won't come since she's got family obligations that day. In any case, I'm still OK with the invitation to the boss; he told me that he was going to be Tokyo Midtown that day anyways, and I would prefer to avoid any potential awkwardness....for example, if he showed up at Baker Bounce by coincidence while we were noshing away.

Have the juku folks tonight. As usual, it'll be a waiting game to see if Jolly shows up again. However, Suzanne will be there, as well as the new trio of The Milds and The Traveler.

The Democratic National Convention launched on schedule today. Woke up to see Wolf and Anderson start the CNN proceedings. Didn't get to see Ted Kennedy give what could be his very last speech or Michelle Obama tout the strong points of her husband. But I did catch James Carville on CNN.com write about how the DNC dropped the ball by not going on the attack immediately. I wasn't too overly concerned about what Carville said since he seems to love to create trouble for just about everyone, regardless of political affiliation. However, I do believe that if Barack Obama wins or loses the election in several weeks, the pundits will be looking at this week as the key defining moment.

Monday August 25, 4:48 p.m.

Well, The Beijing Olympics are now history, and whaddaya know? They were a runaway success by any stretch of the imagination. And the Chinese could not complain at all; they were basically the winners of the competition with all of the Gold medals they raked in. Of course, the Communist treatment couldn't totally be avoided. I almost had to laugh when I heard about the government's "offer" of letting protestors do their thing in protest parks. All the "Free Tibet" people and other such organizations had to do was apply and then show up. Of course, most likely the applications ended up in the round file and the few folks who did gullibly show up at the parks were rounded up faster than Admiral Ackbar could yell "IT'S A TRAP!" and kept on very cold ice for the duration of the Games.

I was surprised to find out that the winner of the Men's Marathon, a Kenyan by the name of Samuel Wansiru, was also once a high school student up in Sendai, and he could do a pretty good post-race interview in Japanese with NHK.

Japan, though they weren't anywhere close to their heyday in Athens 2004, did quite well in the medal standings. 25 medals was a good turnout and a good 25 times better than their pathetic performance in the Winter Olympics a couple of years ago. Of course, the athletes are now going through their endless round of television appearances in the home country. We'll probably be inundated with the usual interviews for the next week.

Of course, for CNN...it's now going from sports to politics with The Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado, starting from tomorrow morning, local time. The Obama-Biden ticket is gonna really have to dig in, though.

Since things are on summer hiatus, I had lunch at Baker Bounce in Tokyo Midtown today. My timing couldn't have been better. Things were pretty empty when I entered the burger house but then a few minutes, the lunchtime crowd rushed in. I had their Burger Lunch at 1,050 yen...nice big burger with bacon and Monterey Jack but a bit chintzy on the fries, though. All of this was just a recon mission of sorts before I bring 001, 002 and her hubby there on Sunday. Afterwards, I just walked through the mist and browsed at Aoyama Book Centre before settling in at the Starbucks in Roppongi Hills for an hour with one of my old copies of "The Onion".

I'm back at Speedy's. I found out that The Full-Timer has cancelled her class for tonight so I've gotta wait for more than 4 hours before Medicine Man comes along. At this rate, Wednesday and Thursday will probably be the Hump Days of the week. There's a chance that The Pessimist may be my only class on Friday. I will need to check on the results of my checkup on that day.

Monday August 25, 4:39 p.m.

When the DVD Nights were over at my place, it was always takeout pizza as the main course. But now that the Nights have shifted over to MB's place for the time being, MB and I have had the run of the far more culinarily interesting Jiyugaoka. Just before the Timothy Dalton Bond-fest, MB took me to this Chinese restaurant with great dishes and surly service. I half-agreed with his assessment. The food was indeed excellent...tofu with chopped spring onions and thousand-year-old eggs was sublime (MB was grateful that I've become a recent convert to the admittedly acquired-taste eggs since he can't order them while The Sylph is around...she refuses to even see the dish), mabo dofu, deep-fried chicken, etc...but I had no problem with the service. Sure the waitresses weren't the usual smiley automatons and the vocabulary was terse, but that's what a Chinese restaurant is...at least the ones my family had eaten at back in Toronto.

The next day, MB took me to a small one-man-operated ramen restaurant which had a reasonable deal in the form of a hefty bowl of ramen with fried rice on the side. He was a bit disappointed that none of the side dishes were available during lunch but I had no complaints. Yep, my neighbourhood definitely lacks in the fine dining department when compared to Jiyugaoka.

Monday August 25, 4:10 p.m.

It was a James Bond view-a-thon at MB's second DVD Night...more accurately, it was Timothy Dalton's James Bond night. Finally got to see the only two 007 flicks that I'd never seen. I only got to see "The Living Daylights" partially and had never seen one iota of "License to Kill" despite it approaching two decades since their release. I only heard about how mediocre they were and just gave up on them.

However, Movie Buddy, being the biggest James Bond fan this side of the Pacific, has been far more charitable and after finally seeing them, I can say that I agree that they've been left underrated to a certain extent. Almost 20 years before Daniel Craig's somewhat more actorly turn on one of cinema's most famous characters, Timothy Dalton had given Bond a more thespian grounding by returning to Ian Fleming's original roots for the character. All of the actors who had done Bond before, including my favourite of them, Sean Connery, were either former models/TV stars. Dalton was the first stage-trained thesp to take on the role, and he actually gave the character more dramatic heft. He even had to tear up briefly in "License to Kill" and looked convincing. It's a pity that he wasn't allowed to keep on doing the character. Pierce Brosnan, as about as perfect for the 007 role as could be, was still a return to the model school and I just remember that as much as he tried to really bring more gravitas to his Bond, he was still trapped in his Bond-as-a-superhero.

"The Living Daylights" definitely took James Bond into a different direction from the several movies with Roger Moore during the 70s and early 80s. I'd heard about how seemingly important it was for Bond to be monogamous in the frightening days of AIDS. And despite the climactic high-altitude battle between James and Necros the henchman, the plot of the movie was a lot less fantastical than the supervillains and the almost-impossible-to-believe situations that were concocted. "The Living Daylights" dealt with arms dealers and Afghan mujahdeen.

But ironically, it was "License to Kill" that was the one true revelation for me. It had been criticized for looking a lot less glossy...almost on the level of a made-for-TV budget. But after having seen it, I've been convinced that it and "The Living Daylights" were more on the vibe of Sean Connery's second Bond outing "From Russia With Love"...considered to be one of the best spy movies, period. Yep, there were indeed weak points in the latter movie (Q being allowed to have a larger role [that was a surprise!]; a bar brawl), but the overall "Yojimbo" aspect of it with Bond being the puppetmaster was quite a revelation. However, I think the 180-degree turn in tone from the cartoonish Roger Moore years to the far grittier Timothy Dalton period was all a bit too much for fans and moviegoers, and so five years had to pass by before a more cinema-friendly Pierce Brosnan entered in "Goldeneye".

Saturday August 23, 1:12 p.m.

Another surprise in the Olympics...Japan's relay team just barely got a Bronze in its race last night. Of course, noone was gonna catch Team Jamaica so yesterday's 3rd-place finish was a coup for Japan.

The Ace seemed to be in an atypically giddy mood last night for some reason. He's usually pretty button-down about things. The juku boss' relatives, including 3 little boys, invaded the house in the last few minutes of my lesson so I basically gritted my teeth and did my greetings before making a quiet departure.

I've got Mr. TOEIC in about 45 minutes and then The Dentist in about 2 hours before I head on out to meet MB.

Friday August 22, 8:17 p.m.

After finishing up with the Speedy classes, I was able to get to an open Otokichi and buy that CD of Reimy...another one of those under-the-radar 80s J-Pop singers that I seem to enjoy. The disc is called "Sanctuary", a fairly rare album from a store that specializes in rare CDs. I basically bought it since there is a song on it, "Shotgun" that got my interest via her video clip on YouTube. Reimy had a singing career which spanned several years in the 80s and early 90s. This disc seems to be the transition one as she went from a typical aidoru years covering other singers' stuff to her singer-songwriter days of somewhat more meaningful tunes. The liner notes seem to have her writing down her diary of her days as a coed in California.

I heard just a couple of tunes from that Yuming album, "Alarm A La Mode" from 1986. This disc also seems to signify a transitional period for the Queen of New Music. It seems like those shriller synths that emphasized her late 80s-early 90s period started here, compared to her more mellow early 80s period of Fender Rhodes.

After getting the disc at Otokichi, I just had lunch at KFC before deciding to head on home instead of checking out Baker Bounce in Roppongi. I figure that it isn't going anywhere in the next few days and that I can go there on Monday since I have nothing until The Full-Timer. The weather has definitely been pegged as more attuned to late September instead of late August...not that I'm complaining at all. There was absolutely no need for air conditioning today.

There was some added pathos to the jubiliation of Japan's Women's Softball Team getting the surprise Gold last night. Sen'ichi Hoshino's Team Japan for Baseball ended up getting smacked by Korea, thus ending their dreams of getting a Gold; now it'll be a minor miracle if they can get a Bronze. Not a great way for Olympic Baseball to disappear....at least, for them.

The pathos and panic continue in the sumo world as Russian rikishi Wakanoho was officiallly ousted from his sport...the first time in history that an active wrestler has been given the boot for possession of cannabis. His stablemaster, Magaki, who had been given a wrist-slap for beating up on one of his charges earlier in the year, also was given mandatory retirement by the Japan Sumo Association.

I see I wasn't the only one who thought that Usain Bolt was showboating. Even the IOC Chief, Jacques Rogge, went on air to tell the world's fastest man to knock it off. But I figure that anyone who would showboat openly at the Olympics is someone who won't bow down to authority in any case.

Kinda wonder how tomorrow is gonna shape up like. Both Mr. TOEIC and The Dentist have been known to cancel at short notice. I can imagine that there could be some messages from Speedy tonight or tomorrow morning.

Friday August 22, 2:03 p.m.

Finished with my two students here at Speedy's. The Pessimist had his usual deer-in-headlights look again, and hinted that his presence here will be much more limited since he'll be going back to work at the end of September. The Publicist and I had a good lesson talking about "The Dark Knight" among other things.

I would be out of here by now but the bossman has asked that I stay a few more minutes, at least until the banker (who's here now) gets past me. Speedy wants the impression of a somewhat bustling office....although I'm not sure how three people would make all that much of an impression over two. In any case, I'm out of here in a minute.

Friday August 22, 10:43 a.m.

It's feeling like Fall out there. The high temp today is only up to 26 C...pretty unprecedented for Tokyo Summer! That electrical storm and downpour last night pretty much doused all of the heat and humidity.

As expected, the news and wide shows have been wall-to-wall Women's Softball Gold Victory. What's making the victory even sweeter is that it will be the very last Olympic Softball game for some time to come since the IOC has decided to cut out the event for the 2012 Games in London, and of course, Team Japan managed to be seen as Goliath-beaters by toppling Team America. I sacrificed some needed sleep time by watching the highlights on NHK past midnight.

Apparently, there was some sort of jinshin jiko (personal accident) at my station last night which threw the Tozai Line into conniptions. I doubt it was the usual suicide since the place looked pretty normalized by the time I got in...and that was less than 2 hours after the incident had taken place. It was probably some guy having a seizure on board.

I've got The Pessimist and The Publicist here at Speedy's before a lengthy time-out before The Ace's return at the juku tonight. The introductory chat for each lesson will be on the softball game. I finally got word from 002 that she and her hubby are good to go for Baker Bounce on the 31st at Tokyo Midtown. So I've set things up...apparently, the burger joint has changed sites, although it seems to be just a move across the atrium. It's good incentive for me to check it out...and get in some lunch today after the lessons here. I still have to get back to Otokichi, though.

Thursday August 21, 10:42 p.m.

I was using that Mudville analogy for that Chinese hurdler who couldn't appear in his big event a few days ago. Well, tonight there is joy in Mudville if Japan is used here. The Women's Softball team just won the Gold over the heavily favoured Americans 3-1. I can imagine the morning wide shows just screaming tomorrow and extra editions being thrown out in Yurakucho and Shinjuku.

Thursday August 21, 7:16 p.m.

Still spinning my wheels here and I'm more than 2 hours away from my last lesson. Some of us are kinda trapped in the school since the skies opened up with a fanfare of thunder and lightning that has become rather common in the last several days. I knew that something was gonna strike when I saw those thunderclouds topped up like especially fluffy mashed potatoes. Quite happy that The Temp cancelled her lesson today; otherwise, I would've been fighting some major rain and wind right now. However, not sure what I'm gonna do about dinner since the weather out there is fit for neither man nor beast. Speedy was asking about my dinner plans so we're kinda waiting for 7:30, but I think the best thing would be to call something in...if the delivery guys are willing to come over.

Ray has decided to brave the elements and take off for home. We lent her one of those clear plastic cheapo umbrellas. She's been a good addition and replacement for BC. None of that emotional roller coaster that we'd had to endure from my former student for some months. Currently, AK is doing the night shift.

The Japan Sumo Association and the media are whipping up this Wakanoho-marijuana scandal full froth. Haven't been home all that much for the past couple of days so don't really know the details. People reading this outside of Japan might be wondering what the big deal is about a Russian rikishi getting caught with his hand in the MJ jar, but over here, even a bit of the weed on a celeb can be grounds for banishment. This is the same nation whose police arrested and jailed Paul McCartney back in 1980 for carrying the stuff. His status as one of the legendary Beatles didn't make a dent in the national police. Mind you, the lucky thing for these guys is that executions aren't carried out here like they are over in Southeast Asia.

Thursday August 21, 5:00 p.m.

Back from most of the afternoon out on the road. Went over to Otokichi only to find out that the guy's on summer vacation until noon tomorrow. Nice of the guy NOT to tell me on his website. However, making a positive out of a negative I went up into the Mandarake floors in Nakano Sun Plaza and went to that other discount CD shop. They have bins of discards for just 200 yen each. Managed to pick up an old Yuming and Sing Like Talking discs.

Ended up having lunch at Ringer Hut in the mall itself. Ringer Hut is nothing like Pizza Hut. It is a chain of restaurants selling champon, that Nagasaki delicacy of noodle soup. The soup has thick Chinese noodles in a cream-coloured but not creamy pork broth and is topped off by a lot of veggies. I hadn't been inside a Ringer Hut in well over a decade since my NOVA days. Just wanted something different from the usual tonkatsu or McD sets.

It hasn't been too hot or humid today. Still, I was exhausted after teaching The New Yorker. It's not easy teaching a low student inside a bustling cafe no matter how good the weather outside. She had a good b-day the other day with her sister, The Carolinan, and another friend at their customary place to celebrate, The Hard Rock Cafe in Roppongi. She said that she didn't get any birthday presents per se and though she didn't mind at all...now being all of 32 years of age, but her television is busted. A new TV would be great but I don't think I can help her out on that thing...especially since she'd like one of those flatpanels with ground digital service.

I'm off for the next four hours and change until Medicine Man gets in. I could use the time off to recover.

Thursday August 21, 8:27 a.m.

One of those late night-early morning transitions that I can't stand. Looks like McDonalds has already started with the price increases with the breakfast menu. I had to pay an extra 20 yen for my Sausage McMuffin Set. Still an extra 80 yen a month is not gonna kill me...the cholesterol in the set will do that to me quite fine.

It'll be a Donut Day today...but with a small piece of dough in the middle in the form of The New Yorker in Ichigaya. I think all of the ultrarightists and ultraleftists have finally left Yasukuni Shrine, so it should be safe enough (knock on wood). The morning will have Grandma Dynamite and Miss Sedona before she takes off tomorrow for her American adventure. And then in the evening will be Medicine Man. I do plan to use some of that off-time between the morning folks and The New Yorker by heading over to Otokichi for that Reimy CD.

I was doing my usual "babysitting" of The Patent Attorney before Speedy came in. Looks like he and his family had a good time in Thailand last week for their O-bon vacation. I was surprised (as was he) that they paid the equivalent of 10,000 yen a pop for this brunch buffet in Bangkok which, amazingly, puts any of Tokyo's grand exercise in money-throwing for food to shame. Mind you, he said that the atmosphere in that hotel was absolutely the lap of luxury and not the norm. The PA also mentioned that he and his family are also massage otaku. They definitely went to the right place, then. I'm definitely feeling knotty right now.

For the past several days, my commute reading has been focused on "Starquake" by R.L. Forward. It's the sequel to a novel called "Dragon's Egg" written almost 30 years ago. At first, I wasn't quite sure what to make about a race of sesame-sized slugs living on a neutron star but it's always the sign of a good sci-fi writer who can actually make the premise work and even make me feel sympathetic to their plight. The hook about the Cheela living millions of times faster than we humans also makes for an interesting little gimmick.

Wednesday August 20, 5:11 p.m.

Polished off a conbini platter of Spaghetti Pepperoncino...forgetting that garlic and my stomach have a tempestuous relationship sometimes. Well, luckily I still had one tablet left of the stuff that the working class often take before and after a major eating and drinking binge on the town. Hopefully, that'll work better than NATO's attempts between Russia and Georgia.

In the midst of dinner, Speedy asked me if I were ready for something Mac tomorrow night between The New Yorker and Medicine Man. He informed me that Big Macs will be going for just 200 yen for the next couple of weeks...a sale to cushion the blow since from September 1, everything across the board at The Golden Arches will be going up in price. Can I kill Ronald now? Ach...I figure that the hammer was gonna come down even on those guys with the soaring price of oil.

During my model lesson with the young lady earlier this afternoon, we got onto talking about her New York life, and how she'd initially found everything there to be way too big. Ironically, coming back to Tokyo, she suffered reverse culture shock and discovered the food to be way too small. Kinda like Alice in Wonderland. To give you an example, a Large Pizza here would be a mere Medium Pizza back in the States. When I first came here, I went to that bakery chain, Cozy Corner, and rather looked in shock at the diminuitive size of their cake slices. I asked my friends sardonically whether I ate these things or just inhaled them.

Wednesday August 20, 4:26 p.m.

Finished up with that model lesson student. Yep, as Speedy had described her earlier, she's a bit of a laconic one trying to get back to New York City. Nice enough lady but not quite sure if she'll sign with us. In a very strange coincidence, though, a Shindo 4 quake rumbled through the neighbourhood just a few minutes after we had been talking about quakes. I jokingly made my apologies skyward.

I was thinking about heading to that old used CD store in Nakano, Otokichi, but have decided to cut out since time has just gotten a bit too tight. I gather I'll go either before or after The New Yorker's lesson tomorrow. Plus, I had to get that new reading assignment done for 001. Carrying on the "Heroes" bent, I've based this one on Nathan Petrelli. I hear he's been confirmed for the new season.

Got word from The Satyr who's still off in London for the next few days before returning to Japan. Looks like he's still good to go for watching "A Dark Knight" on the 31st. Still don't know what'll happen on that day since that was also the day that I'd asked about heading to Baker Bounce with 001, 002 and The Baker. I should find out in a few hours when 001 comes in. Movie Buddy has invited me back to his place for another DVD night this weekend. Believe me, I don't mind at all...especially when it comes to saving money on air conditioning at my place. Hmm...I may ask my host about getting the Richard Donner cut of "Superman 2".

Wednesday August 20, 12:15 p.m.

Just finished with The Pessimist. He was just rolling along with his delivery of his homework only to find out that he'd cribbed some of his stuff from an Internet site. Still, we had a good talk about how demanding his son could be. He's 2 years old and therefore in that frustratingly (for the parents anyways) touchy-feely exploratory mode.

Before I went to the juku yesterday, I'd been watching the last several minutes of a movie which had Superman, Lt. Saavik and Luke Skywalker. Yep, it was Reeve, Alley and Hamill in John Carpenter's remake of "Village of the Damned", that little horror from 1995 about those spooky kids with the eyes and white hair. As a horror, I thought it was rather tame in terms of the deaths (this was of course, pre-"Hostel" and pre-"Saw")...I mean, Kirstie's death scene in which her character is forced to eviscerate herself had absolutely no blood! I would think that a woman having her monthly period is far bloodier. It was a cute little afternoon timewaster but nothing more. I did read on IMdB that it was Chris Reeve's final movie before his tragic accident. As for Mark Hamill's character's demise, I felt like telling him to use The Force to get that gun away from himself.

Anyways, it's time for lunch...

Wednesday August 20, 10:23 a.m.

Another scorcher...back to the dog days. The juku classes last night went off pretty well. I guess that week's hiatus did wonders for everyone, including me. That "dreaded" meeting between the new kid and The Milds went surprisingly well. For one thing, the new kid...whom I'll call The Traveler...showed some more proficiency than she did in her model lesson a couple of weeks ago. I'd thought she was a completely blank slate then but I guess that could have been chalked up to nervousness. The fact that she upped her game was also combined with what could've been a bit of an off-night for The Milds...one of the very few times that I was actually glad that a student wasn't doing so well. In any case, the scales were balanced although both the juku boss and I told The Traveler that she'll need to do a lot of catching up grammatically. I can't slow down things to a crawl for her at the expense of The Milds.

And Jolly was about as jolly as I've ever seen him. Mind you, it'd been a month since I'd seen him last and I guess absence does make the heart grow fonder. In any case, it was an atypically quick hour with him. He apologized first for the long absence by saying that the business meetings and dinners just happened to fall on Tuesdays and Fridays...perhaps a bit of poetic license there...but there has also been the issue of tons and tons of paperwork. He's been keeping up with his golf, though. The juku boss also wanted him to make up on his lessons but, unfortunately, he's gotta a farewell party to attend on Friday night. So, it'll be The Ace alone for the hour then.

Air Canada sent me the schedule change on my flight to Xmas. Not too ticked about the trip going back to Toronto, but my flight back here has gone from a leisurely departure time of noon to one of those red-eye wake-up calls for an 8:30 a.m. takeoff in January.

It'll be a minor Hump Day today with The Pessimist leading things off in about 30 minutes, and then I've got that model lesson at 1:45 with 001, The Diver and then The Fashion Designer to finish things late.

Was still listening to some of my old discs gathering dust in my room. Last night's pick was an old Pizzicato Five single with the title of "Baby Portable Rock". P5 just happened to be one of the leading lights in the Shibuya-kei Sound back in the 90s, with its mix of techno, lounge, bossa nova and 60s Mod. "Baby Portable Rock" has got that 60s American sitcom theme song-type of feel to it...as if it had been written by DeVol...quite catchy.

Speaking of J-Pop, I think a lot of the 90s kids are probably swooning (or groaning) at the news that the female quartet of SPEED are getting back together after their breakup at the beginning of the decade. The girls are all now very established women in their own veins of work...one of them, Eriko Imai, is now a full-fledged mother, while another has become an actress and an occasional tarento. I was never a big fan of the group although their songs have popped up in any compilation CD I've bought over the years.

Tuesday August 19, 7:41 p.m.

Man, there are definitely consequences to be paid by transiting from a heavily air-conditioned room to a very steamy corridor.

Well, it looks like Japan picked up another two medals, neither of them Gold but the Silver and Bronze from Men's Wrestling will always be welcome to the tally. I believe Japan now has 22 so far.

However, no medals for one sumo wrestler. Yes, yet again the Japan Sumo Association has to beat back another media brushfire because one of their own was caught carrying a bit of the loco weed here. Wakanoho, who's actually a 20-year-old Russian with a very long name (probably translates to mud or dumbass), lost his wallet a few months ago which he duly reported to the neighbourhood koban or police box; someone actually did turn in the wallet. When the cops took a look inside, a rather aromatic smell emanated which they quickly identified as marijuana or hashish, and sure enough the weed was in there. Wakanoho fessed up to the joint in the joint, thus the current state of affairs at the JSA. He said that he got it from some guy in Roppongi...they always get it from some guy in Roppongi. In any case, the morning wide shows now have something else besides Olympic coverage to rant about.

Just heard that Lawrence Fishburne is now the new lead CSI in the thusly-titled show. At least, he'll be later this Fall. Has this little hook of being genetically-predispositioned to be a serial killer. I think "Dexter" is rubbing off here.

Tuesday August 19, 7:17 p.m.

Finished off with Suzanne. She's definitely an interesting one. Looks even younger than her 26 years and dresses like a Shibuya gyaru, but she's really into the nitty-gritty of English grammar, and told me that she's just read "Rich Dad, Poor Dad", that self-help book by that Japanese-American. We even did a 5-minute discussion on the book's merits and demerits.. And though I risk being called sexist, I was rather surprised when she said that "Sex and The City" totally bored her...the series, that is, not the movie which she hasn't seen and probably won't. The Big Lug loves the movie, strangely enough. However, Suzanne admitted that she was miha enough that when she traveled to New York, she did track down and take a few pictures of the cafeteria where Carrie and the gang hung out. I told her that she could probably hold an auction and sell off her pics to some of my students for a goodly sum. I can only hope that my model lesson student tomorrow is as interesting. The fact that she lived in The Big Apple is a good beginning.

Still no call from Jolly but it's not quite the witching hour yet. He usually makes the call during The Milds' lesson.

I've been listening to some of my old dusty J-Pop CD singles....the 45 rpms of the 80s and 90s on my Discman (the Victrola of the 90s). I popped in a Yumi Tanimura disc. She's got some good licks in her songwriting....perhaps like a Burt Bacharach...but she's also got the voice of Burt Bacharach as well. Cute but not particularly polished.

Tuesday August 19, 4:45 p.m.

Well, the dog days of summer are back. The temps have gone above the 30 C mark and cicadas are dropping everywhere. So much for an early start to Fall.

I'm back at the juku after it went on O-bon hiatus for a week. I've got some drama coming up tonight. Along with the usual wait-and-see about Jolly's appearance, I've got that model student who wants to take a group lesson; only problem is that she's a good plunge lower in ability than The Milds. The only saving grace is that The Milds are such nice people. I'm trying to ease the pain a bit with some introductory activities but I think it's a foregone conclusion that she's not going to be with them long.

I also got a call from Speedy this afternoon. I've got a model lesson coming in tomorrow afternoon for a lady who was in New York for a couple of years and wants to shore up, in her words, her deteriorating English. I've been around the teaching block a few years now so that for a person like her, her attitude will be all-important in determining whether she'll be a stayer or whether she'll fly the coop in a few short classes. The Tippler, The Yogist's buddy, hasn't been seen here since late June. I figure that she's not coming back; she's also one that was in The Big Apple for some time but she struck me as being a bit la-di-dah about her lessons, especially since it wasn't on her initiative that she came to us but as an invitation from The Yogist, who's a whole lot more enthusiastic.

Japan's been doing pretty well at The Beijing Olympics. They'd been amassing medals every day since the Games began, but I think the medal rush ended yesterday as soon as we entered the Track And Field events. Not really too strong in that area, especially when names like Bolt are on the list. Speaking of whom, I'm not too sure but sometimes I get the sense that Usain Bolt was slumming a bit when he sped down the track during the weekend to smash those world records. I've never seen a dash artist suddenly decelerate just metres away from the finish line and already start pumping the arms in victory. Hopefully, but doubtfully, he'll get a bit of a comeuppance for that sort of attitude.

During my lesson with The Full-Timer last night (which actually went on for an extra 10 minutes...a bit unusual), we talked on the folly of Japan's contribution to the Women's Marathon on Sunday. The Full-Timer thought that Reiko Tosa and Mizuki Noguchi should never have been selected as the runners because of their ailments. Certainly I would agree that Tosa was a wrong pick...at an earlier press conference which ended up being an ominous sign of things to come, she did remark about her bunions. And sure enough, they were the cause of her downfall. There were plenty of other folks who were chomping at the bit to get their chance but Tosa got the green flag. The Marathon Selection Committee could say that Tosa and Noguchi were the best chances they had, but then the selection of young Nakamura would put down that argument; she actually came in 12th or 13th and never really stood a chance of winning a medal but the taste of experience was invaluable to her.

Continuing on the Olympic line, I guess Beijing must be Mudville while that Chinese hurdler is Casey. Only thing is that at least Casey still got to bat. I can't remember the hurdler's name but this was the second-most popular Chinese athlete behind Yao Ming, and he was expected to run the race of his life yesterday. Instead he hobbled away in agony from the track after a false start due to some nagging Achilles Tendon injury, and the chance of his lifetime has tragically flown away...perhaps forever.

Monday August 18, 4:02 p.m.

Over here at the school, Speedy's got Virgin Internet Radio playing ad nauseum over the computer. There have been a few songs that have gotten very heavy airplay including one that I'd thought was a new one by Cyndi Lauper...it certainly sounded like her over the tinny speakers. Who it was actually a singer named Duffy from Wales and the song is "Mercy", a sultry soul number. I only realized it yesterday when I was doing some channel surfing on SkyPerfect and came across her video on the Music-On-TV channel.

While I was getting checked out on that torrid Friday morning in Gyotoku, Speedy was subbing for me with The Nurse. Apparently, with her upcoming move in September, we're not sure whether she'll be showing up for any more lessons for the next little while. Also, the bossman is getting rather agitated again since three of our students have decided not to renew. Slim and 002 are two of them (still no explanation why Slim never bothered to show up last week although I think the writing on the wall is pretty clear), and the other is one of his.

Skippy sent word to us of a proposal for the 31st in which MB, me and The Satyr would watch "The Dark Knight" again while she, The Sylph and Miss Ivory would catch "Sex and the City". The only thing is that maybe, just maybe, 002 and 001 might take me up on my offer to head over to Tokyo Midtown and Baker Bounce on that day. And I'm not quite sure if "The Dark Knight", as good as it is, really merits a 2nd viewing for 1800 yen.

Monday August 18, 2:31 p.m.

I remember seeing Tim Burton's "Batman" back in the ancient year of 1989; it was the last movie I'd seen before heading off to my first Japan posting in the wilds of Gunma, so what better flick to catch than this much-awaited piece. The audience was oohing-and-aahing over the guy who had put together the sets for Gotham City (the guy ended up accepting his Oscar completely zonked out of his mind and then promptly committed suicide some months afterwards); then they were just laughing, applauding and marveling at Jack Nicholson's rendition of The Joker while accepting Michael Keaton's turn as The Dark Knight himself. Alfred was there along with Commissioner Gordon, Vicki Vale and even Harvey Dent. "Batman" was one of the cinematic showpieces that year that would change everyone's perception of him as the campy 60s TV superhero.

Now, cue ahead nearly 2 decades. I'm seated in a state-of-the-art (though not IMAX) movie theatre in Roppongi Hills with MB and The Sylph. Once again, I'm watching "Batman" again, this time Christopher Nolan's take on him; strangely enough, all of the major characters mentioned: Bruce Wayne, Alfred, The Joker, Gordon, Harvey Dent and another romantic interest, Rachel Dawes are back in this one as well. And you couldn't have a more different film.

"The Dark Knight" was dark....as in 98% cacao in a black hole dark. I'd been hearing all the buzz about this one for months, including all of the reviews in the first few weeks of its release in the States. And yep, I think this is the best movie I've seen this year. Once again, the actor playing The Joker is the toast of the town although his take on The Clown Prince of Crime is far more terrifying than Jack's. For instance, I could have the guts to stay in an alley with Nicholson's Joker for a few seconds...I would have run for the hills even before Heath Ledger's Joker had gotten within half a kilometre of the alley. Whereas the Jack Joker got his permanent comeuppance, Heath Joker could only be left hanging (and presumably taken to Arkham) while just laughing away; he was shown to be indestructible, even at the hands of Batman's "subtle" interrogation techniques.

There are so many other comparative hooks between Burton's and Nolan's creations. Although the roles of Batman, Joker, Alfred, Harvey and Gordon are in both, the last three roles were mere cyphers...not even plot devices in the 1989 "Batman". And it can be said that The Jack Joker pretty much hijacked the movie from Keaton's Batman. However, in the 2008 version, they're all major players. The Heath Joker may have gotten all the Hollywood tongues wagging but none of the other roles are slouches. Also, whereas looking at the 1989 Gotham City was like looking at a mix between Art Deco and amusement park, the newest version is very much looking at any Anycity, USA with its problems of corruption and crime. Heck, a number of critics have compared this "Batman" to the crime thriller "Heat"; the very first scene, in fact, reminded me of the climactic scene in that latter movie. I almost expected DeNiro to show up with a machine gun.

The other hook was remembering that in the 1989 version, Batman pretty much stayed pristine and saved the girl while destroying the villain. In the 2008 version, he truly became a dark knight with a darkened soul, taking down a lot of people with him, and losing two good people, including the girl in what was probably one of the more shocking scenes in the movie...and the villain survived to laugh another day. At the end of the 1989 movie, Pat Hingle's elderly Commish heralded the arrival of Batman with the Bat-Signal, a fanfare of triumph and applause from the audience. At the end of the 2008 movie, Gary Oldman's younger Gordon emphasized Batman's pariah status by smashing it.

As I said, a none-darker superhero movie can be imagined. And I'll definitely be waiting for that twin DVD pack. I think if there were a weak point (and no, I didn't have a problem with Batman's voice like so many critics have, although I think Christian Bale probably hit the Gollum Juice full-time), it would probably be with the birth of Two-Face. Just like all of the past Batman movies with two or more villains, this Batman certainly didn't have room for two freaks and it definitely showed at the end. Harvey Dent's brief stint as a bad guy came out more like a maddened serial killer...which was probably why his nom de guerre was only mentioned once and reluctantly so. It would've been interesting if Dent had been allowed to stay as the good guy right to the end or nearly to the end in which case the tragic deformation could've served as the launching point for the next movie. But then again, I'm not sure if Two-Face would be all that compelling a counterpoint as Batman's next villain where big Hollywood blockbusters are concerned. And Nolan wanted to double the pathos for Batman...losing not only his first love but also his choice of replacement. Still, this little hmmmm point doesn't compare to what is a great piece of superhero entertainment. Christopher Nolan has raised the bar pretty darn high for future superhero franchises. I can only hope that whoever's doing the next "Superman" movie or any other superhero flick takes this to heart.

Monday August 18, 2:16 p.m.

The last couple of days have been Heaven on Earth, meterologically speaking. Thanks to a major electrical storm and some pretty hair-raising downpours on Saturday evening, I was literally chilled to find out that the temps dropped significantly on Sunday morning. The high for Sunday was 26 C...a full 10 degrees lower than some of the hot stuff we had been getting all last week. Although things are a bit back to normal today at 30 C, the air hasn't been mugging us like a Central Park punk. I can only hope that this is the beginning of the end of yet another Japanese Summer in Hell. After all, the O-Bon holidays are a thing of memory now.

It's been a good Olympics for Japan now that we're past the halfway point in Beijing. Everyday so far, my adopted home's athletes have managed to bring in some medals. This past weekend seemed to belong to Women's Wrestling. All four of the entries there won 2 Gold, 1 Silver and a Bronze...yes, even the Animal's daughter got one so hopefully, the beastly father can chill out for another 4 years. However, he's been on just about every station this morning, proudly crowing about how his daughter managed to get that Bronze. We even got one in Cycling...although none of the stations have picked up that event. Unfortunately, the darling of Team Japan, table tennis player Ai Fukuhara, failed to pick up any sort of medal in her event, and after 16 years of a strong foothold in the event, the Japanese failed to pick up any medals in the Women's Marathon.

I was pretty torn on Saturday night when one of the Women's Wrestling finals was being played out. It just so happened the final was between one of the Icho sisters and a Canadian, Carol Huynh. I would've liked to have seen the sister get the Gold but at the same time, I still had those tugs with the ol' home country, especially since Canada had been undergoing a major medal drought. As it turned out, Huynh got the Gold. I just found out from Speedy that Canada has now gained a bit of respectability back with 7 medals.

Today, I've just got two. I just finished up with The Big Lug. I hadn't seen him since July 31st. He'll be heading off for Hong Kong next week, just a day after the end of the Olympics. He'll be staying at the Peninsula in Kowloon, so I also told him about The Jade Garden, as I had with The Full Timer, who is the 2nd student tonight. After that, it'll just be back home and some more Olympic moments. Tomorrow will be another quiet one with only the juku classes.