Saturday September 18, 3:10 p.m.

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

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

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

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

Friday September 17, 1:06 p.m.

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

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

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

Thursday September 16, 10:48 p.m.

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

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

Thursday September 16, 6:29 p.m.

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

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

Thursday September 16, 6:10 p.m.

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

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

Thursday September 16, 4:17 p.m.

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

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

Thursday September 16, 7:58 a.m.

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

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

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

Wednesday September 15, 10:47 p.m.

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

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

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

Wednesday September 15, 8:23 p.m.

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

Well, Miss Sony's here...

Wednesday September 15, 5:55 p.m.

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

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

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

Wednesday September 15, 3:45 p.m.

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

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

Monday September 13, 9:27 p.m.

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

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

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

Monday September 13, 9:14 p.m.

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

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

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

Monday September 13, 5:47 p.m.

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

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

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

Monday September 13, 4:50 p.m.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Saturday September 11, 1:52 p.m.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thursday September 9, 2:10 p.m.

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

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

Thursday September 9, 11:31 a.m.

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

Thursday September 9, 10:03 a.m.

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

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

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

Wednesday September 8, 10:42 p.m.

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

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

Anyways, time to go home in rather comfortable surroundings.

Wednesday September 8, 7:18 p.m.

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

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

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

Wednesday September 8, 6:11 p.m.

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

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

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

Wednesday September 8, 4:38 p.m.

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

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

Wednesday September 8, 2:15 p.m.



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

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

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

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

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

Monday September 6, 9:25 p.m.

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

Monday September 6, 6:23 p.m.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Saturday September 4, 3:28 p.m.

Just about ready to get out of here. I got through my three classes without little trouble, although my lunch was kinda getting me to sleep during The Intellectual's lesson today. However, with Miss Prissy and The Publicity Assistant, we had quite a good time talking about cockroaches and good Tokyo hotels respectively. I was especially surprised with Prissy's apparent fearlessness when it comes to picking up roaches with her bare hands; she doesn't look like the super tough type in appearance but she doesn't end up like a quivering jelly mold on seeing the shiny brown insect in her house, unlike 99.9% of the population. And I thought I was the only superhero around.

The picture above is that of Tottori Prefecture's pear-flavored caramel that I got from the juku boss last night as a present. Her story about her experience with this candy is something that could only happen to the scatterbrain. Apparently, when she decided to chew on a cube of the stuff, she ended up pulling out one of her molars and had to go for some emergency work at the dentist. Luckily, my dental hygiene must be somewhat better since I could chew down on the caramel easily. I put up this news as a new topic on one of the Mixi communities dealing with sweet stuff. Within an hour, about 8 folks put down their favorite caramels...which is about the fastest reply I've ever gotten for anything in my 18 months on the SNS. For a country that's known for sushi and tempura, it's interesting that every prefecture apparently has their own contribution for caramel. And there was even a boom a few years back for something called raw caramel.

Well, I'm ready to go. Gonna head on over to Nakano Broadway and see if I can find something at Recomints in an attempt to repeat the luck I had at Tacto yesterday with that Ruiko Kurahashi CD.

Saturday September 4, 9:44 a.m.

I think we may have broken some sort of record for longest heat wave in Japan. In any case, it's plenty steamy out there. No sign of rain at all. I'm surprised that we haven't be given any water rationing announcements, but then again I haven't been able to catch up on the news recently. And unlike last year, there has been a distinct dearth of typhoons coming up to the Kanto, not that I'm complaining all that much.

Went down to Jimbocho yesterday after my lone class at Speedy's to check out that old CD shop. I was lucky to find a Ruiko Kurahashi disc that I hadn't had previously. Basically, it's a compilation of seven of her singles including the B-sides. The B-sides were unknown songs and though they were pretty enough to listen to, I could understand why they never made it onto one of the number of Best CDs. It's a rare one, too, judging by the cost. I paid about 3700 yen for it, which is 700 yen more than a contemporary disc.

Got my usual 3 Saturday students: Miss Prissy, The Publicity Assistant and The Intellectual. Also had to make some tests for Cozy and Miss Prissy, and grammar material for Yajima whom I'm seeing for the first time in about a month tomorrow.

Friday September 3, 11:56 a.m.

The Ramen Museum is probably the first of the food emporiums that now populate the big cities like Tokyo. I made my latest visit back on that steamy Monday after checking out of the Sakuragicho Washington. Walking out of the massive JR Shin-Yokohama Station, I was already feeling like a limp dishrag during the 10-minute walk to the museum and it was only 10:45 a.m. I'd been told that it was good to get to the place early since the place gets crowded between 1 and 5 p.m. Looks like there were some others who got the message since there was already a small group of people who were waiting in front of the locked doors. Then, when that busload of Chinese tourists arrived some 5 minutes before opening time, we all got into line lickety-split.

As you can see from the picture right here, the front of the Ramen Museum looks pretty austere but there is an interesting spiral design at the right which probably refers to one of the de rigueur toppings on a bowl of noodles, the naruto, a thin pink-and-white spiral of steamed fish cake.

Of course, one doesn't go to The Ramen Museum to look at the history of noodles but to actively partake in the digestion of said noodles. But it'll cost you...300 yen just to get into the place and then the average price of a bowl once you get into the sub-basements is around 800 yen. But the museum has gone all out to provide a depiction of old Showa Era-Tokyo from the 1950s; just think of Marty McFly ending up in The Big Sushi instead of that small town from "Back to the Future". There are even ancient announcements of arriving subways from the time period which occasionally get barked out through the speakers.

As I said, it's good to get to the ramen as soon as possible since lineups can get pretty long. So I held off on the photography until I finished my main business there. I ended up going for the Kumamoto representative, Hi no Kuni (Land of Fire), and got myself a bowl of their cha-shiu men for 950 yen. Usually the image of Kyushu ramen is of a pretty thick, artery-hardening broth coating noodles and just about anything else in its path, but the Kumamoto soup was actually rather light though the chefs didn't skimp on the rich flavor. And they didn't skimp on the pieces of BBQ pork.

Afterwards, I tried to walk off some of my added cholesterol by going through the mock-up of old Tokyo. It's rather nice to walk through the rusticity of the postwar era when a lot of buildings were still constructed in dilapidated wood instead of the huge concrete behemoths of today...including the soon-to-be-completed Tokyo Sky Tree. I could imagine hearing a jazz standard being crooned by legendary Hibari Misora as I walked through the alleys.

Some minutes later, I came across a paper sign which said in kanji, "The Future" on the stairway. So I returned to the present in the form of the 1st floor gift shop. I ended up buying a couple of boxes of ramen noodle pieces covered in chocolate for a couple of the juku students. I did try some with Mr. Mild later that night; well, let's say that I had good intentions in mind when I bought the stuff.

Friday September 3, 9:26 a.m.

Back at Speedy's again early for the 2nd day in a row. Somehow, this sort of habit has gotta stop sooner or later. This time's culprit is The Photog. Something has also gotta be done about this guy. He can't just keep rambling in classes, especially now since his New York project has been set back half a year. He's a nice guy and all but that sort of thing is gonna get old fast.

Basically once I'm done with him in a couple of hours, I have several hours of nothing until the juku lessons at 9. I'll probably head over to Jimbocho and check out that old CD shop with all of the obscure 80s discs. The important thing is that I just wanna chill out at home for a few hours until game time.

Thursday September 2, 10:36 p.m.

And thus another Hump Day comes to a slow end. Mrs. Thursday was shy but quite capable in her inaugural lesson tonight. Hopefully, she'll be a stayer. And The Music Man was his dependable self. I found out that both students will be absent next week since they'll both be heading for Guam for a short vacation. Can't complain about that. Besides, that will mean that I'll also have a rather early start to my Thursday night with The Carolinan being my final student.

Tomorrow, I've just got The Photog in the morning and then just the juku students. I heard that The Photog's assignment to New York has been thrown back until early next year. Doesn't make any of our jobs any easier.

Thursday September 2, 7:38 p.m.

About to get the last third of my classes under way. I've gone through The Patent Attorney, Grandma Dynamite, The Shareholder and The German. Grandma Dynamite's lesson was interesting in that it basically had her practicing the ol' show tune from "Fiddler on the Roof", "Sunrise, Sunset" in English. With The German, it was another gab session...mostly on the upcoming battle between PM Kan and former political strongman Ozawa.

I've now got a new student, Mrs. Thursday (couldn't come up with a better moniker for her, sorry), in about 20 minutes, followed by The Music Man.

Thursday September 2, 8:24 a.m.

Another beginning to a hot one in The Big Sushi. Drank down another isotonic drink on the way here. Gonna be another Hump Day with six students under my belt.

I've been doing some damage control vis-a-vis my e-mail. I rather foolishly answered to an acquaintance's so-called request to join an SNS called Tubely, and when I did so, it automatically sent requests to everyone in my contact list. So I've had to send apologies to everyone because of this virus.

Wednesday September 1, 9:56 p.m.

It may officially be September now, but the weather is still saying mid-August. Still scorching hot out there with nary any sign that Autumn is on its way. That timer on my AC has already gone off so I will be greeted with some cooler air when I get home and when I hit bed I can feel comfortable.

The above is a couple of pics from my annual Yokohama Chinatown dinner. For 1,980 yen, I was able to the pick of the litter for food. It was an all-you-can-eat but not a buffet. I just order it and the waiters or waitresses bring it over. I could order as much as I could handle, and what I could handle was 9 dishes by my lonesome. The food was good but not great. Although I could get as much Peking Duck as I wanted, I was still a little nonplussed by the fact that each serving of duck only consisted of two slivers of duck skin. Also the soup dumplings came with very little soup. Not all that impressed, but even with the all-you-can-drink option, it was a good 500 yen cheaper than the place that I had gone to last year.

I had three students today for my first round of students at Speedy's after Yokohama. The Overachiever and I had a great talk about political scandals (too bad he said that he may be leaving Tokyo for some sort of work in the near future). And then with 001, it was basically on the upcoming Arashi concert this Friday. She's even made up a couple of hand fans with her hero's name on it. Then Miss Sony was fine as usual.

Tomorrow will be Hump Day with 6 on the slate, including Grandma Dynamite who seems to be making just cameo appearances lately.

Tuesday August 31, 10:02 a.m.

Well, the mini-vacation in Yokohama is just about over and again I have to write quickly since I'm at a coin-operated I-stop in the hotel. I guess I know why Twitter is so popular, but I've always enjoyed writing prose more than little tweets.

By and large, the culinary experience was good, not great. I don't think I've ever had a soup dumpling that didn't have any soup in it...more on that later.

On my way to the Ramen Museum to get some noodles before I have to whiz on back home and get ready for the juku lessons. I think Speedy is right...I really ought to have 2 nights here rather than just the one.

Saw "Monsters and Aliens" on the hotel video. Missed this one at the theatre, and I think it was OK to catch this one on the small screen. Not quite as fun as "The Incredibles" or as legendary as "Toy Story". This was basically a meeting of funny voices from the A-list of the Fox Japan lineup (Hugh Laurie, Kiefer Sutherland) and "Saturday Night Live"; there were some funny sight gags and the inevitable topical in-genre humour but a lot of the jokes were pretty much limited to old Warner Bros. cartoons. Not a home run by any means, but a nice solid double.

Anyways, gotta go.

Monday August 30, 6:55 p.m.

Yep, I'm here in Yokohama. Man, I couldn't ask for a hotter day to arrive in Japan's 2nd-largest city. I was pretty much melting when I got to the hotel at check-in time. Had to buy an extra undershirt but doing OK if feeling pretty bloated after the annual Chinese buffet, but this time, it was a different restaurant. More to follow when I get home.

Saturday August 28, 10:13 a.m.

Rather incongruous pictures above, eh? The above left photo is of my breakfast at Jonathan's yesterday....it's a carbon copy of Denny's. I had a rather decent scrambled egg set with a salad, bacon, hash brown and a sausage that snaps. The pic also signifies that I'm now on my 3.5-day vacation. Nice to relax...or try to relax. I've gotten so accustomed to working literally every day that I can't easily snap out of work mode. I actually have to work at relaxing...remind myself that there is no need to look at texts or come up with lesson plans in my head or on paper. I will certainly try to achieve that before I head on out to Yokohama on Monday. But sure enough, one of my translation clients has sent me an e-mail asking for some document to be translated, but since I'm not the only translator in his flock, it's an open call. I'll politely let him know that I'm off for a week.

The picture on the right is The Photog's new project. The title reads "Eigo de Twitter" or "Twitter in English". Yes, for those intrepid students in The Land of The Rising Sun, they can now write freely write in nonsyntactical utterances and they won't get tsk-tsked for it. For The Photog, this is truly a godsend since he can only speak nonsyntactically.

I saw Mr. Swank for the first time in a month. He and his family had just gotten back from The Aloha State only the day before, and he looked like a guy who had just indeed returned from Shangri-La (the mythical land, not the hotel)...tanned, slightly out of it due to jet lag (I had a similar experience with The Artist on Thursday), and with a goatee. He was definitely not up to doing a regular lesson since he so conveniently forgot to bring his lesson notes with him and therefore any chance of looking at completed homework went out the window in the first 5 minutes. So it was just aimless chatter. I had kinda figured that it would be going this way since he has that rather laidback personality, but still I get rather uncomfortable about getting my money by just talking with a student. I mean, could he be thinking about why I hadn't been strong enough to wrestle him into a regular lesson? But a part of me was happy that I could start my holiday with an easy class.

So I got home early Friday and turned on the AC and made up some of my famous Kimchi Chicken Sandwich and watched some "Music Station" on TV Asahi. I've been watching the premier Japanese music show since the late 80s and it's been interesting to see how J-Pop has changed over the decades.

Today is gonna be a hot one. It already felt like 30+ degrees just coming here to the I-Cafe and we're still a couple of hours away from noon. But again, that should be the only thing I'll worry about for the next few days.

Friday August 27, 12:47 p.m.

Had my free-for-all lesson with The Photog. I was able to settle him down a bit to boost his vocabulary on illnesses and recommended restaurants...not that there was any connection between the two. He's apparently coming back for September with hopefully a more structured approach to his learning. And he's started his English career on Twitter and Facebook. I think Twitter will be more to his liking since that SNS apparently doesn't need syntax.

Got The Shareholder in about 40 minutes, then I have run off into West Shinjuku for Mr. Swank. Never got any response from him but I assume that he'll be there.

Friday August 27, 10:07 a.m.

Miss London is back in the school after several days of summer cold. The bossman was slightly miffed that she was about 10 minutes late but that's the Marunouchi Line's fault, not hers.

And apparently, another guy is back in the fold of controversy. Ichiro Ozawa, the former (and perhaps current) superpower in the Democratic Party of Japan, gave the announcement that much of the media had been speculating about...that he will be running for the leadership of the party against current president and Prime Minister Naoto Kan. Considering that this is a fellow who not only has had a long reputation of (supposed) dark deeds throughout his career but also had to step down a few months earlier along with ineffectual previous PM Hatoyama for some other perceived misdeeds, Ozawa's maneuver has to rate as one of the ballsiest and most mysterious moves. He doesn't have much public support because of his reputation but I don't think Ozawa much cares about anyone outside of his support group. The mysteriousness comes from the fact that he had always been more of a backroom type of guy...controlling the more personable pols like a puppetmaster. But if he actually wins the presidency, he becomes the de facto Prime Minister. He'll now be the one out there, not the one behind the curtains. However, not everyone is moaning about this new state of affairs; some folks are hoping that his years as a cagey powerbroker may actually bring some oomph into the ruling of the nation since Kan hasn't really made much of an impact since he took power in late Spring.

Friday August 27, 9:15 a.m.

Unfortunately, the upload didn't quite take, but the sign says, "Please use the escalator on your behind." Yup, one of the reasons that I love living in this country so much.

I'm doing another one of those late night-early morning transitions...basically, just going home to sleep for 5 hours between sessions. Kinda regret assenting to teach The Photog this morning at 10:45. He is a nice guy but, frankly, his stream-of-consciousness sessions yield mere nuggets of education for him. My lesson today is his last lesson on his contract; the bossman and Miss Efficiency are fairly confident that he will re-sign although part of me wonders if it would just be better if he resigned. But again, I'm just grumbling because I had to come in early.

Still, this is my last day of work before I have my 3-day holiday weekend. And the wonderful thing is that I just have The Photog, The Shareholder and...perhaps, Mr. Swank for my shift today. No juku lessons tonight since The Restauranteur has cancelled tonight's session.

It's been a bad year for The Restauranteur. She had already lost a couple of relatives earlier this year due to old age and disease. Now she can add accident to that list. The reason that she's not coming tonight is that she and her family are mourning the loss of her nephew due to a senseless motorcycle accident last Friday. Her nephew had just been newly engaged, and he, his buddies and his fiancee were finishing up a party. One of his friends asked for one more ride on the ol' chopper when his fiancee practically begged him not to go in fear for his safety (as would be expected with a party with a bunch of 20-somethings, there was a fair bit of alcohol involved). Initially, the nephew listened to common sense and declined the offer but apparently went with his buddy to his house for some guy time while everyone else went home. Tragically, at his buddy's house, he was invited one more time for one more ride and this time the nephew succumbed to his friend's harpings and went on that bike. The two of them on that bike put in a bit too much speed and ended up wiping out permanently on a stretch of road. No more engagement, no more wedding, no more future. And the idiot buddy's family now has to forever carry the burden of forever apologizing to everyone for what the son did.

Thursday August 26, 8:42 p.m.

Yup, the above are from my trip to Khazana on Monday for that curry buffet lunch. I really have to refrain from engorging. And yet, the dishes just tempt me too much.

It really has been a busy day here. Although the gaggle of staffers have all gone, La Fille was kept on her feet taking care of two incoming business students for Mr. Sydney, another new teacher, and a new student to whom I'd given a model lesson a couple of weeks earlier. She handled them like a pro.

The Carolinan informed me that she'd taken her sister, The New Yorker, for lunch at a Chinese buffet place for her birthday before catching "Inception". Yep, as expected, The New Yorker ended up sleeping through a lot of it.

Just The Music Man before I finally head on home. I sent word to Mr. Swank about his lesson tomorrow but I have yet to hear anything from him. I hope that he has returned from his month-long trip in Hawaii.

Thursday August 26, 6:22 p.m.

Ah, did forget to mention that The Entrepreneur and his wife are now the proud parents of a baby son. It's been a good half-decade for my old friend. He not only has his own thriving business, but he's gotten the love of his life and now a kid to play catch with eventually.

Thursday August 26, 6:18 p.m.

We had a full house in terms of administrative staff. Along with Miss Efficiency, we had Ms. Schmooze, the new staffer Ms. MBA and La Fille filling up the desks. It was a situation that Ray or even The Admin wouldn't have imagined during their times here. And another new teacher, The Brit, is taking care of a student right now. It would seem that Speedy is starting to grow.

Thursday August 26, 2:34 p.m.

Got through The Photog's lesson. He's a very stream-of-consciousness type of guy when it comes to his lessons. No structure, no set topics. Just let it go. We spoke on everything from movies to his camera to cockroaches.

Just The Carolinan and The Music Man although I won't be finally done until 10:15 tonight.

Thursday August 26, 12:59 p.m.

Well, I've gotten through the first two of my quintet. The Patent Attorney was as smooth as usual. The Artist was about half an hour late...kinda disturbing trend from her, but then again, she IS an artist. And she looked pretty heavily jet-lagged from her trip to New York last week. She had a good time at the museums but felt that the food was largely lacking, except for some supermarket-bought lasagna.

I have The Photog in about 15 minutes. I hear him right now gabbing away at Speedy. Hopefully, the bossman will have some sort of insight for me as to how to approach The Photog.

Thursday August 26, 8:27 a.m.

Only a few minutes before The Patent Attorney comes in so I'll have to type fast. Yesterday was pretty much a Hump Day...5 lessons. And I've got the same amount coming up today with The PA, The Artist, The Photog, The Carolinan and The Music Man. But the classes will be a bit more spread out which is a relief for me.

Just counting the days before my vacation begins.

Wednesday August 25, 5:53 p.m.

Feeling a bit tired right now after getting through The Photog and The Overachiever. For their own reasons, both guys are pretty challenging. The Businesswoman was fine as usual. I don't feel like doing much except for just getting through my remaining two classes which are 001 and Miss Sony.

I gather that it's not a good idea to travel overseas right now. Hong Kong tourists were murdered by a deranged police officer on a bus in Manila, there was a hostage-taking incident involving Brazilian drug gangs in an expensive hotel in Rio, and a Nepalese flight crash-landed in Nepal killing at least one Japanese national. And everyone here thought that bus crash last week in Utah was bad.

Just counting the days before my long weekend. At least I got paid today.

Wednesday August 25, 11:41 a.m.

I'm currently typing this while Speedy and Miss Efficiency are having a small argument about duties and expectations. Kinda like the immovable rock versus the unstoppable force. Ray wasn't quite the type to withstand the bossman's stubbornness, but Miss Efficiency looks like a good match. She has that usual brittleness in her delivery that denotes irritation.

Finally picked up those new glasses between The Beehive and the juku classes. They fit like a charm and I don't have to worry about slippage. My old pair is now officially retired on the coffee table.

I've got a long day today with 5 students: The Businesswoman, The Photog, The Overachiever, 001 and Miss Sony. With the exception of 001, everyone else has his or her own challenges. Anyways, I gotta get ready.

Monday August 23, 8:23 p.m.

Finished up with Miss Genki...she was as she is named. We had a nice talk about the days of black-and-white TVs and "Sesame Street". We are indeed in the age of nostalgia.

Speedy and I had a small talk on our newest employee, Miss Efficiency. I'm still not totally sold on her and I let the bossman know directly about that. She seems to have that latent streak of insecurity that I'm not sure about, but the bossman countered with the fact that she has brought in a lot of business since she started. I can't deny that...there has been a noticeable uptick in business since she's willing to do what Ray, LaFille and Miss London were never all that keen on, which is to make cold calls and follow them up by phone. I think what it is about my reluctance about her is that her weak points are made quite clear by her proximity to my desk. The bossman told me that she's not nearly as computer-literate as Ray was, which causes no end of frustration to her. And Miss Efficiency is more than willing to vent about it...not too loudly, thank the heavens. Anyways, both Speedy and I know where we stand concerning her.

Monday August 23, 6:05 p.m.

The lesson with The German was once again basically 80% gab followed by 20% textbook. Some of that gab was on the sultry weather out there. I think a lot of us are wondering when the crisp cool Autumn air is gonna finally descend upon us.

I listened to the fourth album from that Manhattan Transfer 5-pack last night. This time, it was "Swing", a 1997 album dedicated to the swing tunes from the 30s and 40s. I think by this time, the group had now settled into its permanent niche of jazz/Latin tunes, getting away from the 70s/80s AOR/pop biz. Fun but perhaps not as great as "Vocalese".

Definitely not feeling hungry right now. That curry buffet is still churning away in my stomach.

It's gonna be a busy middle of the week for me, but the good news is that I'll be finishing my Friday and beginning my holidays right after Mr. Swank's lesson. Yes, he'll be back from his month-long vacation in Hawaii.

Monday August 23, 3:42 p.m.

Well, after a few relative days of cooler weather, the steam jets came back on full power from yesterday. After my lesson with Cozy, I decided to head out to Odaiba for a bit of R&R since I had several hours before The German's lesson over at Speedy's. Ended up having a curry buffet at Khazana in the Decks mall on the island for which I may be paying dearly later on tonight. Luckily, I've got a doctor, The Medicine Man, in the final slot tonight. The buffet was pretty good but the service was fairly surly...not to me, but to a couple of young women next to me. But I guess that's part of the Indian ambience. As usual, I stuffed myself a little too much and had to sit it out for several minutes on the bench before I could risk moving myself. Made a tactical error by waiting several more minutes for the free shuttle bus around the island since I actually only had a few minutes at Palette Town before needing to grab the train for Speedy's.

Just read that a famous local entertainment reporter has gone to that word processor in the sky. His name was Nashimoto and he passed earlier this morning from liver cancer. I had taught his daughter for a few short months back in 1997 at their house in Yoyogi-Uehara, and just met the man for a few seconds. In a way, things were rather timely since I had been visiting the place just when Princess Diana had died in that car crash; things got pretty busy there since the man had to get his suitcases all packed to head on over to London for the funeral. I read in his obituary that the funeral will be strictly limited to close family; probably because he made a lot of enemies during his time as a reporter amongst the geinokai. His daughter once told me that the security had to be pretty tight around the house.

Saturday August 21, 2:00 p.m.

Finished up two-thirds of the students for today. The Intellectual rushed in 30 minutes late due to a work-related matter so we could take care of his speech. Then The Publicity Assistant and I had a talk on the nature of Japanese thespians, especially on Erika Sawajiri, the current enfant terrible.

Just Ms. Prissy in about 90 minutes. Then I'm off to the gig. The Intellectual is also off to a concert of his own. He'll be seeing Akiko Yano (the former Mrs. Ryuichi Sakamoto) at the Tokyo Blue Note tonight. I had my own experience at Tokyo's premier jazz facility when The Manhattan Transfer came into town earlier this year but although the quartet was great, I just found the seating to be a bit too close to cattle car.

Although Hikaru Utada may be done with singing for the foreseeable future, the media is apparently not done with her. I saw one of those banners at the newspaper kiosks yesterday, screaming in black and yellow: "UTADA IN LESBIAN BAR!" As if that's a hugely scandalous piece of news in this day and age. I've had students and fellow teachers go to gay bars just to enjoy the atmosphere and they're very much heterosexual.

Saturday August 21, 11:41 a.m.

Looks like The Intellectual got hung up with something work-related so he's only going to be able to make it for just the last half hour of his scheduled 60.

I've got the usual Saturday folks otherwise. The Publicity Assistant and Miss Prissy will be showing up later this afternoon. Afterwards, I'll be heading over to Otsuka for The Bass' gig at Welcome Back!

Miss Efficiency is definitely a lot more gabbier than Ray ever was during her 2 years here at Speedy's. Not that that is particularly a bad thing. Found out that the former had dinner with the latter last night, and apparently Ray seems to be a different person...much more stress-free. I hadn't realized that Ray was under such pressure but then again I was never all that involved in that side of the work here.

Saturday August 21, 11:21 a.m.

Well, met up with MB for the first time in several weeks in Roppongi Hills to catch "The A-Team". An interesting comparison can be made between it and "Inception". Both deal with expert outlaw teams. While "Inception" can be seen as slick and intellectual, "The A-Team" was definitely one of those films that can be termed as rock n' roll and something that doesn't require a brain. Just turn it off and then enjoy the ride like a roller coaster. Also the stars seemed to have a switch. Leo DiCaprio, who has often been seen as great eye candy for the ladies, ends up as a cooler-than-dry-ice team leader Dom Cobb, whereas Liam Neeson, who has gravitas coming out of all of his orifices, ends up being cartoony Hannibal Smith. Yep, "The A-Team" was fun and nonsensical, much like last year's "Star Trek", and I could easily see all the hints for a sequel.

Thursday August 19, 10:33 p.m.

And thus another long Thursday comes to a close after The Music Man's lesson. He scored well on his test and we managed to get through the lesson without either of us falling asleep. I'll be logging off shortly.

I just came off of Mixi. I was rather happy to get some comments via a couple of entries from Spice, my former student at the juku. But apparently, her status bar contained some rather nasty comments toward someone of her acquaintance. Spice has always been well named since she has a rather spiky personality...luckily, she never showed her dark side toward me during her and her sister's brief time as students. However, she didn't hesitate to fling some verbal crud toward a friend. Of course, I'm not about to interfere....kids are kids and they can be cruel.

Thursday August 19, 8:11 p.m.

Did the round trip walk to Shinjuku for about 3 hours earlier this afternoon since I didn't just want to be fiddling around on the Internet all day at Speedy's. Actually, it didn't feel too hot out there, but there was still that perpetual layer of sweat between my undershirt and my skin which reminded me of how hot this summer has been. Made it all the way to Times Square and Kinokuniya where I picked up that text for Yajima.

For dinner, I just had a little something over at Burger King in the middle of the office district of West Shinjuku. I had a couple of ne'er-do-well punks behind me acting like the jackasses that young people are allowed to be. While I was ordering, one of them had the temerity to use his finger to poke through my airspace to show something on the menu. I quickly swung my elbow to clear him out. Luckily for me, he was so self-absorbed that he didn't even care being brushed back and just went on jabbering with his buddy. The last thing the bossman needed to get was a call from the local police that one of his employees had been involved in a brawl at a burger joint.

It was buzzing with activity at Speedy's about a couple of hours ago with myself, the bossman, Miss Efficiency, Moe, La Fille, and yet another new assistant, Miss Nice Girl occupying the seats. But most of them cleared out: Moe and the bossman went out to teach classes on site, and Miss Efficiency and Miss Nice Girl finished their shifts, so it's just La Fille and me before The Music Man comes by in about an hour. We finished the last of the Parm chocolate ice cream bars.

Thursday August 19, 2:11 p.m.

Just finished with The Shareholder. He's getting steadily more talkative so the lessons are becoming a bit more fruitful. Meanwhile, one of our new teachers, Moe, is having the illustrious Photog. Moe seems to be a pretty laidback button-down sort so The Photog should be OK.

I've now got several hours before The Music Man comes in for the final slot of the day. I'll probably just go over to Times Square to pick up a text for Yajima. He sent me an e-mail this morning stating that he had just come back from Australia. He had a good time but he, as with a lot of other Japanese, had to struggle a bit with the accent.

Thursday August 19, 10:41 a.m.

Up above are a couple of photos from the time I was up in Akihabara on Sunday. As I'd mentioned, there was some sort of exhibition on an anime called "Black Rock Shooter" in the Crossfield Building, complete with pictures, film, cars and real live girls in costumes....everything that the average otaku needs for his viewing pleasure. One of the girls kinda had a passing resemblance to my ex...but if she had been indeed my old squeeze, she probably would've run screaming as soon as she saw me...the otaku would've just assumed it was part of the show.

I had The Patent Attorney as usual this morning. He and his wife had just come back from Vietnam just several hours before. He informed me that, much to his and my surprise, Ho Chi Minh City was a bit cooler and drier than expected. Quite the opposite meterological experience from Mr. Swank's odyssey down there earlier in the summer. Both he and his wife partook in the usual Vietnamese experiences of food, massage and surviving traffic.

Miss Efficiency has settled into her new duties as Speedy's new major domo. She's definitely a lot chattier than her predecessor, Ray. This morning, she was doing a fair bit of namedropping; apparently, she has the talent of being able to run into her fair share of celebrities. To wit, Huey Lewis, Madonna and the late John F. Kennedy Jr. She'd met the extended family of Ms. Ciccone in Harajuku some years back; hang around in Harajuku long enough and a celeb will bump into you. Yep, Miss Efficiency is definitely a lot more ebullient.

The weather was somewhat drier and cooler this morning than has been the case for the past several days...nice to feel although I'm not sure what it must be like outside right now. Probably back to steamy.

MB and I have set up a game plan to squeeze a viewing of "The A-Team" tomorrow after The Bass' lesson. It'll be another trip to Roppongi Hills.

Wednesday August 18, 5:22 p.m.

Well, it's been quite a contrast between two students. I had The Photog and The Overachiever for my first official lessons with them. The Photog is an extremely low student (he makes the juku boss sound like a Rhodes Scholar) who seemingly treats proper syntax as an option whether than a rule, but has a lot of heart. Basically he was able to carry the conversation despite the self-destructive tendencies of his linguistic ability. On the other hand, The Overachiever is a very thoughtful young man with a good handle on his English and has ideas on reform in the dentistry industry. Both were very good classes in their own way.

My stomach is getting the grumblies but I think the time is just a bit too short for me to run out and grab something from the conbini; I'll probably just grab something from the kitchen before 001.

MB has asked whether I would be available anytime during the day and night for a movie since he's still off school for at least another week. I think I can squeeze him in on Friday afternoon since I have nothing between The Bass and the juku classes.

Wednesday August 18, 12:49 p.m.

I went through the 3rd album of the 5-pack series of The Manhattan Transfer. It is as you can see on the right. If the inaugural "The Manhattan Transfer" was about taking those first baby steps into jazz standards, doo-wop and disco, while "Mecca for Moderns" was about embracing their inner AOR, "Vocalese" was about the Transfer grabbing their entire jazz stylings via Lambert, Hendricks and Ross. The standout tracks are of course "Ray's Rockhouse" and "Blee Blop Blues" (I've always loved the video for the latter song; it was just the perfect matchup having the transfer take on the roles of "I Love Lucy"). However, I was also interested in what didn't get onto the compilation best hits releases. "That's Killer Joe" is definitely one of them. Basically, if a non-Transfer fan were to imagine what the prototypical Manhattan Transfer album was, it would be this one. Of course, since "Vocalese" was released in the 80s, all that vocal styling came with some synth support.

Wednesday August 18, 12:31 p.m.

Well, finally got those glasses I needed. I went to the nearest opticians to my place, just a few minutes away from the subway station. It's called Megane Suupaa...basically, the Glasses Supermarket. The chain has been on a sales campaign touting a change of frames for the low, low price of 12,600 yen...they even have tarento Tsutomu Sekine sporting a pair. Of course, for me, I needed new lenses as well as new frames so I paid about twice as much. There were just a couple of fellows in the place; one of them dutifully and kindly gave me the eye test, which was surprisingly not that much different from the ones I've taken back home in Toronto. Of course, the big difference was there were much more hiragana and katakana in the eye chart. Still, it was good that I have the language skills; an off-the-boat gaijin would've been lost at sea. My new specs will be ready in about a week.

My first visit to the juku in over a week was pretty normal. I just had the usual gang of Mr. White, The Milds and Mr. Nice Guy. The boss told me that she might have a couple of new students waiting in the wings once Mr. Nice Guy finishes his time with me at the end of the month. As for Mr. White, he and his family had gone to Seoul last week since he's the huge Koreaphile; I got a nice box of chocolate cookies as a souvenir.

As for everyone, the overarching topic was the massive heat wave engulfing the Kanto. Apparently, according to one of my Mixi friends, Chiba hit the big 38 degrees yesterday. That's pretty much a red alert. Not sure what's it's gonna be like today, but I'm happy that I'll be in the school all day today.

Got a foursome today. I've got that photog that the bossman has been teaching so far; very little English but plenty of heart apparently. Then I have that dentist who came in for his model lesson last week. He's quite a bit of an overachiever. Of course, 001 will be in for one of her last lessons on her current contract; not sure if she will renew again after 5 years with us. And I have Miss Sony to wrap up.

Monday August 16, 6:38 p.m.

Managed to spend most of my day in air-conditioned comfort except for one run to the conbini to grab some dinner. Yep, it's steamy out there. Miss London looked like how I felt when she came in.

Movie Buddy is back from Australia so he's already gotten to me about catching any upcoming flicks. I'm thinking about "Salt" or "The A-Team", not exactly top-of-the-line especially after having caught "Inception" twice but hey, it'll be good to hook up with the lad again.

Miss Genki should be here in about 20 minutes.

Monday August 16, 12:36 p.m.

Well, got that shopping lesson done with The Artist. Kinda crammed a lot of stuff into her pretty little head...hopefully, she'll be able to sift through everything and get through a typical shopping binge in Manhattan in one piece. In any case, I'm already feeling rather zonked. Lucky that I've got several hours to recover before Miss Genki comes in.

Recently, I've heard that former teen J-Pop phenom Hikaru Utada had announced a hiatus in her singing activity. Not really sure how the media reacted to the announcement since I haven't been watching morning wide shows recently, but I could imagine it went overboard. In fact, Utada sent out a second annoyed dispatch to calm everyone down. For me, it was no surprise; several years earlier, she had hinted that she could retire from singing and do something totally mundane such as work in a lab. Not really sure how the population has taken the news. Back at the turn of the century, she was pretty much the word on everyone's lips but throughout the first decade of the new century, her influence has kinda gone down since other stars such as Kumi Koda and AI have gone on the ascendant.

My listening activity last night consisted of tuning into the 2nd of the 5 albums I got of The Manhattan Transfer. Last night was 1981's "Mecca for Moderns", and the experience made for an interesting comparison with the eponymous debut album made 6 years earlier. 1975's "The Manhattan Transfer" had a bit more jazz standard mixed in with a couple of electric guitar funk. But "Mecca for Moderns" had a lot of that AOR/David Foster arrangement which was very popular in the early to mid 80s. "Smile Again" is representative of that sound. But two of the songs on the album struck me as rather bizarre and unsurprisingly have never made it onto any hits compilations. "Wanted: Dead or Alive" was just a weird Jamaican-influenced ditty quoting the various dictators present at the time while "Spies In The Night" was probably trying to recreate the TV theme-based hit that was the earlier "Twilight Zone" but failed with James Bond. Still, considering that up to now I'd only been familiar with their very top hits, hearing these unknown songs has been a revelation.

Monday August 16, 11:01 a.m.

The Artist is gonna be 10 minutes late so I have a bit of time to get my thoughts out. She'll be having her final class before she takes off for New York the day after tomorrow so she wants to have a lesson on shopping in The Big Apple.

Yesterday, I just went up to Akiba to see if the authorities actually did bring back hokoten. I got there at about 2 p.m. and sure enough, the traffic was still flowing on Chuo Dori...so a broken promise there. But the Maids were out there in force and probably sweating a ton of saline in their uniforms. And there was some sort of anime event involving something called Black Rock Shooter. Had no idea what it was all about, but it apparently involves a bunch of women dressed in tight black outfits. There were a couple of real-life women dressed in costumes and sporting fake heavy military weaponry. As you do. In any case, I'll have photos later on.

My hunt for new glasses didn't end yesterday. I actually did go to that Washin opticians in Seiyu in Urayasu. Frankly speaking, I didn't get any sort of friendly greeting from the sales folks there although I was the only one browsing the frames; and the frames there struck me as being somewhat more expensive than I had been led to believe. So I decided to abort the mission until tomorrow. There is a Megane Mart near my station so I guess that discount shop will have to do.

It was nice to have a full weekend off. However, it is NOT nice to go through 36-degree weather like today. It is indeed a scorcher out there. As soon as I had walked my first steps outside of my apartment at the bleary-eyed time of 6:30 this morning, I was already feeling like a wet dishrag. It's a Donut Day here at Speedy's and ordinarily I would take advantage of the huge gap in time to enjoy The Big Sushi, but it would frankly be suicide to do anything more than breathe outside today. So I'll take advantage of the free air conditioning and Internet here at the school.

Anyways, The Artist has just arrived.