Saturday June 20, 1:47 p.m.
I'm halfway through the lessons. I had the guys earlier with Mr. TOEIC and The Intellectual. Mr. TOEIC and I didn't make much headway into the text since we got into our occasional sidetracking. This time, it was hats since he was sporting one when he came in. Looks like he's been into Trilbys lately. As for The Intellectual, he has the constitution of Mr. Freeze. Even earlier in the winter, he always came in profusely sweating. I can only imagine the hell he goes through during times like these. I turned on the air conditioner extra strong for him.
Bay had quite a thrill the other day at her other job working at a museum. Apparently, former PM Koizumi...the charismatic Lionhead himself...strode in for a look-see at the exhibits. She assured me that he didn't get into any Elvis renditions.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Saturday June 20, 9:16 a.m.
My shoulders are feeling especially granitic today. Don't know why...maybe age is sending me a message. The juku boss noticed my groaning as I tried out that yoga move that The Yogist had taught me last year. She took a few pokes at my back and proclaimed that she found a new geological formation. Well, another surprise came in the form of The Ace who actually didn't come. Just about 10 minutes passed into his lesson time, and he's the one who usually shows up 10 minutes ahead of time. Well, with only a half-hour lesson, that's a mighty large chunk of change that he's given up. Then at the 15-minute mark, the call came in to say that he was just leaving work at that moment.
I've got four today...Mr. TOEIC, The Intellectual, The Publicity Assistant (it's been almost 2 months for her since she'd come in last time) and The Smile. Then, it's a French dinner for us here at Speedy's...La Fille came up with this idea since she's the local expert on all things Gallic. We're supposed to be going to this place in Shibuya after work. So, I had Italian last night and it's French today. It's gonna be a high-cholesterol weekend.
Strangely enough, The Bow and The Bass were talking about mortality yesterday, and this morning the news came in that the world's oldest man finally bought that long-awaited farm...of course, he's Japanese. For a 113-year-old, he looked pretty good...no more than 105, I'd say.
My shoulders are feeling especially granitic today. Don't know why...maybe age is sending me a message. The juku boss noticed my groaning as I tried out that yoga move that The Yogist had taught me last year. She took a few pokes at my back and proclaimed that she found a new geological formation. Well, another surprise came in the form of The Ace who actually didn't come. Just about 10 minutes passed into his lesson time, and he's the one who usually shows up 10 minutes ahead of time. Well, with only a half-hour lesson, that's a mighty large chunk of change that he's given up. Then at the 15-minute mark, the call came in to say that he was just leaving work at that moment.
I've got four today...Mr. TOEIC, The Intellectual, The Publicity Assistant (it's been almost 2 months for her since she'd come in last time) and The Smile. Then, it's a French dinner for us here at Speedy's...La Fille came up with this idea since she's the local expert on all things Gallic. We're supposed to be going to this place in Shibuya after work. So, I had Italian last night and it's French today. It's gonna be a high-cholesterol weekend.
Strangely enough, The Bow and The Bass were talking about mortality yesterday, and this morning the news came in that the world's oldest man finally bought that long-awaited farm...of course, he's Japanese. For a 113-year-old, he looked pretty good...no more than 105, I'd say.
Friday June 19, 7:24 p.m.
The sun was back which means so was the heat. Definitely needed the GATSBY wipes today. The nights are still cool (sounds ominously like an Air Supply lyric).
It looks like my alternating Fridays will have both The Bow and The Bass. Strangely enough, though the two have never met and several kilometres separate them in terms of teaching venue, we ended up getting into the talk about whether they would be willing to live to 100. The Bass said what most people would say in that as long as he was fairly lucid and walking about, he wouldn't mind. As for The Bow, she came up with a rather interesting answer; she said that she would probably like to die within 20 years. I guess living with one's parents that long would do that to one. If I had still been doing that, I wouldn't haven't been here....in every sense of the word.
Between The Bass and The Bow, I stopped off to get the final phase of my passport renewal done. And that was to drop off at Ichikawa City Hall and get my gaijin card updated with the new info concerning the new passport. The young lad who took care of me didn't retch when he saw my passport picture....rather sporting of him. Now, that the passport is now officially in service, I'll have to get that Air Canada ticket.
A better part of an hour later after that interminable ride on the Sobu Line, I did my regular visit to Takashimaya Times Square. It was definitely a typically June day in The Big Sushi...sunny, plenty of strategically placed green trees, and a thin film of smaze throughout the atmosphere Didn't see anything worth buying at Kinokuniya so just went over to HMV. I was a bit interested in the latest Shena Ringo single...the one with her provocatively looking rather lacking in clothing and showing her back scar from a childhood operation. However, it wasn't the song that I'd seen via her latest video clip on MTV Japan last night...I guess she may be in her mid-Madonna or mid-Cyndi Lauper phase...y'know, do a video without any clothes (maybe I should also mention Alanis Morrissette)...she seemed to have been just wearing a silk sheet for the entirety of the video and making some rather suggestive moves with an electric guitar plug-in cord (you just have to see it). In any case, I'm pretty certain she'll be going completely starkers one of these days. I held off on the purchase since there is a full album coming out next week.
Along with the topic of mortality, The Bow and I also spoke on prodigies, since instead of joining The Sisters of State and me for burgers a couple of weeks ago, she went to see a virtuoso violinist perform. Apparently, the violinist had been one of those child geniuses. Also, there was that news of that homegrown 20-year-old blind pianist recently who had gotten one of those huge world prizes. When I mentioned that tried-&-true proverb about that fine line between genius and madness, the name Yayoi Kusama came up. She is this artist who's had this reputation for using nothing but polka dots in her works. She's also probably a schizophrenic and currently lives in an asylum. The Bow had gone to an exhibition at a cafe in Roppongi Hills a few years ago. I'd also heard about this exhibition. The cafe chinaware and even the dessert had the signature Kusama polka dots imbued in them. Also, she told me that there had been a song writte and sung by the artist herself on heavy rotation within the cafe. The song was on suicide and apparently the lyrics were so appalling that the staff begged to just play it once per hour...lest the song became self-prophesing. Another local on the fine line that came up in conversation was Fujiko Hemming, a famed classical pianist. Apparently, her choice of clothing comes from a century ago and probably hasn't been washed in that time frame.
Had my usual dinner at The Restauranteur's place again. I went for the Chicken Saute. The place was slightly more bustling with one middle-aged lady nearby, and a mother with her two children in front of me. That's about as busy as I'd ever seen it there.
"Terminator: Salvation" is coming our way from tomorrow. The crusty reviewer in METROPOLIS gave it a firm thumbs-down, calling it boring. Meanwhile, the folks in EMPIRE Magazine gave it a very big thumbs-up. So, anything goes really.
The sun was back which means so was the heat. Definitely needed the GATSBY wipes today. The nights are still cool (sounds ominously like an Air Supply lyric).
It looks like my alternating Fridays will have both The Bow and The Bass. Strangely enough, though the two have never met and several kilometres separate them in terms of teaching venue, we ended up getting into the talk about whether they would be willing to live to 100. The Bass said what most people would say in that as long as he was fairly lucid and walking about, he wouldn't mind. As for The Bow, she came up with a rather interesting answer; she said that she would probably like to die within 20 years. I guess living with one's parents that long would do that to one. If I had still been doing that, I wouldn't haven't been here....in every sense of the word.
Between The Bass and The Bow, I stopped off to get the final phase of my passport renewal done. And that was to drop off at Ichikawa City Hall and get my gaijin card updated with the new info concerning the new passport. The young lad who took care of me didn't retch when he saw my passport picture....rather sporting of him. Now, that the passport is now officially in service, I'll have to get that Air Canada ticket.
A better part of an hour later after that interminable ride on the Sobu Line, I did my regular visit to Takashimaya Times Square. It was definitely a typically June day in The Big Sushi...sunny, plenty of strategically placed green trees, and a thin film of smaze throughout the atmosphere Didn't see anything worth buying at Kinokuniya so just went over to HMV. I was a bit interested in the latest Shena Ringo single...the one with her provocatively looking rather lacking in clothing and showing her back scar from a childhood operation. However, it wasn't the song that I'd seen via her latest video clip on MTV Japan last night...I guess she may be in her mid-Madonna or mid-Cyndi Lauper phase...y'know, do a video without any clothes (maybe I should also mention Alanis Morrissette)...she seemed to have been just wearing a silk sheet for the entirety of the video and making some rather suggestive moves with an electric guitar plug-in cord (you just have to see it). In any case, I'm pretty certain she'll be going completely starkers one of these days. I held off on the purchase since there is a full album coming out next week.
Along with the topic of mortality, The Bow and I also spoke on prodigies, since instead of joining The Sisters of State and me for burgers a couple of weeks ago, she went to see a virtuoso violinist perform. Apparently, the violinist had been one of those child geniuses. Also, there was that news of that homegrown 20-year-old blind pianist recently who had gotten one of those huge world prizes. When I mentioned that tried-&-true proverb about that fine line between genius and madness, the name Yayoi Kusama came up. She is this artist who's had this reputation for using nothing but polka dots in her works. She's also probably a schizophrenic and currently lives in an asylum. The Bow had gone to an exhibition at a cafe in Roppongi Hills a few years ago. I'd also heard about this exhibition. The cafe chinaware and even the dessert had the signature Kusama polka dots imbued in them. Also, she told me that there had been a song writte and sung by the artist herself on heavy rotation within the cafe. The song was on suicide and apparently the lyrics were so appalling that the staff begged to just play it once per hour...lest the song became self-prophesing. Another local on the fine line that came up in conversation was Fujiko Hemming, a famed classical pianist. Apparently, her choice of clothing comes from a century ago and probably hasn't been washed in that time frame.
Had my usual dinner at The Restauranteur's place again. I went for the Chicken Saute. The place was slightly more bustling with one middle-aged lady nearby, and a mother with her two children in front of me. That's about as busy as I'd ever seen it there.
"Terminator: Salvation" is coming our way from tomorrow. The crusty reviewer in METROPOLIS gave it a firm thumbs-down, calling it boring. Meanwhile, the folks in EMPIRE Magazine gave it a very big thumbs-up. So, anything goes really.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Thursday June 18, 11:14 a.m.
The student dropout rate continues...at least, where my schedule is concerned. Now, Miss Honolulu has cancelled today....which means I'll be done by 1:45. At this rate, I may even enjoy an aperatif before the sun goes down. Nah, I exaggerate...still have to get on the second batch of translations. And I have to get some exercises done for The Restauranteur for tomorrow night.
The student dropout rate continues...at least, where my schedule is concerned. Now, Miss Honolulu has cancelled today....which means I'll be done by 1:45. At this rate, I may even enjoy an aperatif before the sun goes down. Nah, I exaggerate...still have to get on the second batch of translations. And I have to get some exercises done for The Restauranteur for tomorrow night.
Wednesday June 16, 7:55 p.m.
Ugh! What a night last night. Stepped out of the juku to head back home...ended up soaked to the bone within 2 minutes, thanks to that deluge. Some of my texts were partial victims. Luckily, things are a lot drier today.
I met The Admin for the first time in over 2 weeks. Both of us have been busy. We had a great time chatting about music once more. However, the nice fuzzy atmosphere in the family restaurant was somewhat shattered while The Admin was paying the bill when what looked like another yakuza-esque thug was in the lobby screaming into the phone. If there was one thing that I would've loved to have seen exterminated during The Occupation, it would be these monsters.
I got those last two articles done for The Cornerette. Most of my afternoon was devoted to getting all those kanji changed into English characters. I was so lucky that Mr. Mild provided the furigana; otherwise, my work would've gone far into the next day. As it is, I sent the completed translations about 30 minutes ago. The Cornernette threw me another batch, but it looks like these ones are far smaller than the behemoths that I got earlier this week.
And it looks like I'll be getting a lot of time to get them done in. Both The Cracker and The Music Man, my Thursday evening students both cancelled today. Which means I'll be done by mid-afternoon. If I get those translations done, I may actually enjoy an early Thursday night off.
The Diver should be headed into the door any minute now. And then it'll be The Fashion Designer to wrap up. Both have got tests coming up, but as usual, I'll always be worried about The Diver.
Ugh! What a night last night. Stepped out of the juku to head back home...ended up soaked to the bone within 2 minutes, thanks to that deluge. Some of my texts were partial victims. Luckily, things are a lot drier today.
I met The Admin for the first time in over 2 weeks. Both of us have been busy. We had a great time chatting about music once more. However, the nice fuzzy atmosphere in the family restaurant was somewhat shattered while The Admin was paying the bill when what looked like another yakuza-esque thug was in the lobby screaming into the phone. If there was one thing that I would've loved to have seen exterminated during The Occupation, it would be these monsters.
I got those last two articles done for The Cornerette. Most of my afternoon was devoted to getting all those kanji changed into English characters. I was so lucky that Mr. Mild provided the furigana; otherwise, my work would've gone far into the next day. As it is, I sent the completed translations about 30 minutes ago. The Cornernette threw me another batch, but it looks like these ones are far smaller than the behemoths that I got earlier this week.
And it looks like I'll be getting a lot of time to get them done in. Both The Cracker and The Music Man, my Thursday evening students both cancelled today. Which means I'll be done by mid-afternoon. If I get those translations done, I may actually enjoy an early Thursday night off.
The Diver should be headed into the door any minute now. And then it'll be The Fashion Designer to wrap up. Both have got tests coming up, but as usual, I'll always be worried about The Diver.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Tuesday June 16, 9:21 p.m.
Well, the Rainy Season has truly made its presence felt in The Big Sushi. Right now as I type, it's just pouring just about every cat that's not Toonces along with every dog out there. I'm trying to delay my departure for home until I get a lull in the maelstrom; with my luck, that probably won't happen. Yesterday was pretty bad, too, but tonight is taking the cake with a lot of thunder and lightning.
The Milds came in with Mr. Mild having a lot of legwork for me with that translation on Japanese ceramics from The Cornerette. He also informed me that there were some vital errors in kanji in the original which (sigh) explained why I spent several minutes racking my brains on the weekend about them. He was even kind enough to throw in pictures and furigana, which basically cuts my racking time in half.
About that new guy....The Man From Glad....he's prematurely gray, as I have mentioned. The juku boss gave me some further insight about him. Apparently, he was a real go-getter in his company; certainly, I saw some of that tonight in his model lesson. But he burned himself out which would explain his hair...the man's younger than me!
Tomorrow (weather permitting) should be a strangely quiet day for me, compared to the Hump Days that I'd had recently. Not only will I not need to get in early, but I only have three lessons tomorrow: just the morning kaffeeklatsch with The Admin and then two-thirds of the usual Wednesday night crew since 001 is now showing up. Should have lots of time to get that last batch of translation work done.
Well, the Rainy Season has truly made its presence felt in The Big Sushi. Right now as I type, it's just pouring just about every cat that's not Toonces along with every dog out there. I'm trying to delay my departure for home until I get a lull in the maelstrom; with my luck, that probably won't happen. Yesterday was pretty bad, too, but tonight is taking the cake with a lot of thunder and lightning.
The Milds came in with Mr. Mild having a lot of legwork for me with that translation on Japanese ceramics from The Cornerette. He also informed me that there were some vital errors in kanji in the original which (sigh) explained why I spent several minutes racking my brains on the weekend about them. He was even kind enough to throw in pictures and furigana, which basically cuts my racking time in half.
About that new guy....The Man From Glad....he's prematurely gray, as I have mentioned. The juku boss gave me some further insight about him. Apparently, he was a real go-getter in his company; certainly, I saw some of that tonight in his model lesson. But he burned himself out which would explain his hair...the man's younger than me!
Tomorrow (weather permitting) should be a strangely quiet day for me, compared to the Hump Days that I'd had recently. Not only will I not need to get in early, but I only have three lessons tomorrow: just the morning kaffeeklatsch with The Admin and then two-thirds of the usual Wednesday night crew since 001 is now showing up. Should have lots of time to get that last batch of translation work done.
Tuesday June 16, 7:39 p.m.
Well, Suzanne was atypically irritable. Not that she took it out on me or anything but she seemed to be ill at ease. Not sure if it was that stalker co-worker of hers or some consternation about her upcoming trip to New York. However, I did say that I would concoct some stuff to help her prepare.
As for that model lesson student, he's a pretty gregarious fellow...prematurely gray for some reason; he did say that he's had to take time off work due to some sort of illness. However, he seems promising but said that he won't start til July, so the jury's still out whether he will truly become a regular.
Well, Suzanne was atypically irritable. Not that she took it out on me or anything but she seemed to be ill at ease. Not sure if it was that stalker co-worker of hers or some consternation about her upcoming trip to New York. However, I did say that I would concoct some stuff to help her prepare.
As for that model lesson student, he's a pretty gregarious fellow...prematurely gray for some reason; he did say that he's had to take time off work due to some sort of illness. However, he seems promising but said that he won't start til July, so the jury's still out whether he will truly become a regular.
Tuesday June 16, 4:22 p.m.
Good news on Toonces the Juku Cat. He's back at home, safe and sound. The boss told me that the poor puss had gotten himself trapped in an abandoned house not 50 m away from here on Friday night along with a black Persian. The boss was lucky that her neighbour had heard Toonces' plaintive wails and called her up. It was then just a matter of heading over there and plucking him out.
I got that model lesson in about 40. Just a half hour, though, so not all that much we can do. I made copies of the 1st chapters of a few texts, but I think I'll do my old faithful of Adverbs of Frequency.
Happily, my cable company has finally been able to solve that automatic bank transfer problem with my monthly bills.
Good news on Toonces the Juku Cat. He's back at home, safe and sound. The boss told me that the poor puss had gotten himself trapped in an abandoned house not 50 m away from here on Friday night along with a black Persian. The boss was lucky that her neighbour had heard Toonces' plaintive wails and called her up. It was then just a matter of heading over there and plucking him out.
I got that model lesson in about 40. Just a half hour, though, so not all that much we can do. I made copies of the 1st chapters of a few texts, but I think I'll do my old faithful of Adverbs of Frequency.
Happily, my cable company has finally been able to solve that automatic bank transfer problem with my monthly bills.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Tuesday June 16, 12:39 p.m.
Incredible though it may seem, we're already halfway through the 6th month. Incredible thought it may seem, I survived a 20-hour day yesterday. Yup, woke up at the eye-blearing hour of 4 in the morning so that I could have breakfast and head on out to Immigration in the boonies of Shinagawa to get my visa and re-entry permit transferred into my new passport. It was the usual snake-like line of foreign residents in front of the doors of the massive centre (I think if the government ever allows Hollywood to film there, the Tokyo Regional Immigration Centre can easily pass for the Japanese equivalent of the Pentagon). At 8:30, the line quickly turned into a gigantic scrum up the escalator. Luckily for me, my task didn't necessitate speed. All I had to was fill out a Transfer of Information form and then line up initially at Station A. And then 15 minutes later, the transfer took place. I was out of there by 9:18 a.m.
One of the reasons that I can tolerate the early-morning trek to Immi is that afterwards I can have some sort of meal in the restaurant area of JR Shinagawa. As expected, Nathan's the hot dog chain was officially dead and buried, in terms of its life in Tokyo. Now there was a New York's Subs. Took a look at the menu...didn't seem like the stuff that I would have for breakfast so I ended up having a buffet brunch at the larger restaurant...the one that usually becomes an oyster bar in the evening. The brunch there cost me just 880 yen; it wasn't a particularly rich selection: no greasy sausages, no pancakes or Belgian waffles. However, it did have the requisite toast, corn soup, and various other carbs. I had a Japanese-style pasta with shirasu...the tiny white fish....it was slightly disconcerting eating my noodles while several dozen pairs of eyes were looking up at me, but I got over the guilt trip pretty quickly.
Took the Yamanote Line up to Yurakucho and walked around Ginza for a while. Picked up a Father's Day card at Ito-ya the stationery shop and mailed it out a few minutes later from the adjoining post office. Often on the main corner of 4-chome, there is a TBS film crew getting some man-on-the-street interviews done; this time, there was a bit more of a celeb element in the form of bilingual TV personality Lisa Stegmeyer posing the questions. She was able to wrangle a trio of well-heeled middle-aged ladies into talking into the microphone. Before I hit the Yamanote again, I took a look downstairs in the basement of Itocia. Krispy Kreme #2 was doing business...not at the huge lineups that it had to handle last year but still it was too long a line for me to wait. I'd been thinking of perhaps grabbing a dozen for the gang at Speedy's.
SIL was fine. We spoke on the usual news of the day including the sudden resignation of the Internal Affairs Minister, Kunio Hatoyama. Not sure if he was trying to emulate the ministers in Gordon Brown's beleaguered Cabinet, and not sure if his dropping out will start a chain reaction. I doubt it, but PM Aso must not be in a good way.
Hit back to Speedys. Had The Full-Timer; she's in the middle of meeting up with a temp agency. Then, I had Mr. TOEIC for a night time class. I lent him my CD of the legendary Japanese salsa band, Orquesta de la Luz, since he had shown some interest in the genre. Finally, the Medicine Man came to wrap things up. Man, still like molasses when he answers.
Over the weekend, I contributed 6 hours of Internet time to help get those translations done for The Cornerette. I finally got a draft done last night at the very end of my shift at Speedy's. It's not very pretty but at least I got it in the day before it was due. May have to do some tweaking here and there. During that time, I met up with MB for what was supposed to be another DVD night but it actually ended up being a nice dinner with him and the missus at a great Italian restaurant near their place. Then, I just played some computer games with him on his PS3. I've been out of the PS loop for over a decade, but I had to admit that it was fun playing "Watchmen", "Lord of the Rings" and the latest "Star Wars" game.
Found out through Mixi that my old student, The Ballerina, was having some problems. I couldn't quite understand what she'd written in her diary so I sent her a private message asking what was up. Apparently, it's some labour problem at her workplace; I know all about those things too well.
This morning, my session with The Beehive was particularly lively since I showed them what I was translating for The Cornerette. Ceramics is just up their alley so they had a ball discovering how to say all that jargon in English.
Got my model lesson student at the juku tonight, just before Suzanne comes in. Have to lug in all the books. I hope the juku cat did return home.
The Bass told me about yet another student who wants my services. Well, after the protracted effort with The Action Freak, I'm gonna have to decline this time. Unless he's got time during the daytime, he's out of luck, and I believe The Bass said that the lad had just started work at his company.
Incredible though it may seem, we're already halfway through the 6th month. Incredible thought it may seem, I survived a 20-hour day yesterday. Yup, woke up at the eye-blearing hour of 4 in the morning so that I could have breakfast and head on out to Immigration in the boonies of Shinagawa to get my visa and re-entry permit transferred into my new passport. It was the usual snake-like line of foreign residents in front of the doors of the massive centre (I think if the government ever allows Hollywood to film there, the Tokyo Regional Immigration Centre can easily pass for the Japanese equivalent of the Pentagon). At 8:30, the line quickly turned into a gigantic scrum up the escalator. Luckily for me, my task didn't necessitate speed. All I had to was fill out a Transfer of Information form and then line up initially at Station A. And then 15 minutes later, the transfer took place. I was out of there by 9:18 a.m.
One of the reasons that I can tolerate the early-morning trek to Immi is that afterwards I can have some sort of meal in the restaurant area of JR Shinagawa. As expected, Nathan's the hot dog chain was officially dead and buried, in terms of its life in Tokyo. Now there was a New York's Subs. Took a look at the menu...didn't seem like the stuff that I would have for breakfast so I ended up having a buffet brunch at the larger restaurant...the one that usually becomes an oyster bar in the evening. The brunch there cost me just 880 yen; it wasn't a particularly rich selection: no greasy sausages, no pancakes or Belgian waffles. However, it did have the requisite toast, corn soup, and various other carbs. I had a Japanese-style pasta with shirasu...the tiny white fish....it was slightly disconcerting eating my noodles while several dozen pairs of eyes were looking up at me, but I got over the guilt trip pretty quickly.
Took the Yamanote Line up to Yurakucho and walked around Ginza for a while. Picked up a Father's Day card at Ito-ya the stationery shop and mailed it out a few minutes later from the adjoining post office. Often on the main corner of 4-chome, there is a TBS film crew getting some man-on-the-street interviews done; this time, there was a bit more of a celeb element in the form of bilingual TV personality Lisa Stegmeyer posing the questions. She was able to wrangle a trio of well-heeled middle-aged ladies into talking into the microphone. Before I hit the Yamanote again, I took a look downstairs in the basement of Itocia. Krispy Kreme #2 was doing business...not at the huge lineups that it had to handle last year but still it was too long a line for me to wait. I'd been thinking of perhaps grabbing a dozen for the gang at Speedy's.
SIL was fine. We spoke on the usual news of the day including the sudden resignation of the Internal Affairs Minister, Kunio Hatoyama. Not sure if he was trying to emulate the ministers in Gordon Brown's beleaguered Cabinet, and not sure if his dropping out will start a chain reaction. I doubt it, but PM Aso must not be in a good way.
Hit back to Speedys. Had The Full-Timer; she's in the middle of meeting up with a temp agency. Then, I had Mr. TOEIC for a night time class. I lent him my CD of the legendary Japanese salsa band, Orquesta de la Luz, since he had shown some interest in the genre. Finally, the Medicine Man came to wrap things up. Man, still like molasses when he answers.
Over the weekend, I contributed 6 hours of Internet time to help get those translations done for The Cornerette. I finally got a draft done last night at the very end of my shift at Speedy's. It's not very pretty but at least I got it in the day before it was due. May have to do some tweaking here and there. During that time, I met up with MB for what was supposed to be another DVD night but it actually ended up being a nice dinner with him and the missus at a great Italian restaurant near their place. Then, I just played some computer games with him on his PS3. I've been out of the PS loop for over a decade, but I had to admit that it was fun playing "Watchmen", "Lord of the Rings" and the latest "Star Wars" game.
Found out through Mixi that my old student, The Ballerina, was having some problems. I couldn't quite understand what she'd written in her diary so I sent her a private message asking what was up. Apparently, it's some labour problem at her workplace; I know all about those things too well.
This morning, my session with The Beehive was particularly lively since I showed them what I was translating for The Cornerette. Ceramics is just up their alley so they had a ball discovering how to say all that jargon in English.
Got my model lesson student at the juku tonight, just before Suzanne comes in. Have to lug in all the books. I hope the juku cat did return home.
The Bass told me about yet another student who wants my services. Well, after the protracted effort with The Action Freak, I'm gonna have to decline this time. Unless he's got time during the daytime, he's out of luck, and I believe The Bass said that the lad had just started work at his company.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Saturday June 13, 3:24 p.m.
Man, just slogging through those translations that the Cornerette dumped on me. Worked on them for nearly 3 hours; haven't even made it halfway, and now I have to head on out to MB's neck of the woods for DVD night. Well, I'm even starving so I may grab some lunch before heading out.
Had The Coffeemaker for her 60 this morning. Not sure what the situation is with the juku cat. Hope he did come back to the boss.
Man, just slogging through those translations that the Cornerette dumped on me. Worked on them for nearly 3 hours; haven't even made it halfway, and now I have to head on out to MB's neck of the woods for DVD night. Well, I'm even starving so I may grab some lunch before heading out.
Had The Coffeemaker for her 60 this morning. Not sure what the situation is with the juku cat. Hope he did come back to the boss.
Friday June 12, 4:47 p.m.
Forgot to mention that I did get my new passport. Yup, my picture truly sucks...I mean, even for a passport photo. I swear that the photographer should've said "Gomen" when he handed the shots to me. I'm now worried that the folks at Immigration, Ichikawa City Hall and at all airports will turn to rock once they take a gander of my mug.
Forgot to mention that I did get my new passport. Yup, my picture truly sucks...I mean, even for a passport photo. I swear that the photographer should've said "Gomen" when he handed the shots to me. I'm now worried that the folks at Immigration, Ichikawa City Hall and at all airports will turn to rock once they take a gander of my mug.
Friday June 12, 4:34 p.m.
Rather fit to be tied...or to be put to sleep. I'll take either. Had my four consecutive night lessons last night along with a ton of translation work, and then I had my first bit of unneeded drama on Mixi. There was a little bit of misunderstanding in one of the forums after I put something down as what I'd thought was just an innocent compliment. Well, it was taken the wrong way and I apologized both online and through private message. Luckily, the person in question came back to say that there had been no harm done. Still, concocting a proper apology note in Japanese doesn't exactly take a few minutes and with my other work, I certainly didn't need the extra stress.
Speaking of the translations, I've been trying to blaze through the various pages. I've got a lot of pages to do by Tuesday but I may have some luck by the fact that a lot of them are tour schedules. Still, I've got DVD Night with Movie Buddy tomorrow which will take a chunk out of my translating time. I may have to consider a few hours at an I-cafe before meeting up with the gang.
Will be taking off in about 20 for the juku. Just The Ace and The Restauranteur.
Rather fit to be tied...or to be put to sleep. I'll take either. Had my four consecutive night lessons last night along with a ton of translation work, and then I had my first bit of unneeded drama on Mixi. There was a little bit of misunderstanding in one of the forums after I put something down as what I'd thought was just an innocent compliment. Well, it was taken the wrong way and I apologized both online and through private message. Luckily, the person in question came back to say that there had been no harm done. Still, concocting a proper apology note in Japanese doesn't exactly take a few minutes and with my other work, I certainly didn't need the extra stress.
Speaking of the translations, I've been trying to blaze through the various pages. I've got a lot of pages to do by Tuesday but I may have some luck by the fact that a lot of them are tour schedules. Still, I've got DVD Night with Movie Buddy tomorrow which will take a chunk out of my translating time. I may have to consider a few hours at an I-cafe before meeting up with the gang.
Will be taking off in about 20 for the juku. Just The Ace and The Restauranteur.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Thursday June 11, 11:09 a.m.
Beginning to what is a thankfully smaller Hump Day than had been expected. Grandma Dynamite is away for the rest of the month. Still, felt pretty rushed since the Tozai Line was having signal problems this morning. But no big problems.
The Cornerette seems to be one of those folks who likes to throw further addenda for me to translate. Hope I can keep up although I do have quite a few hours between Miss Sedona and The Carolinan today.
Got word from my former co-worker, The Trekkie, via e-mail that she'd seen "Star Trek", her apparent raison d'etre. Yep, she bawled her eyes out...the only one whom I could see do that for this movie. I think her seeing it again is a foregone conclusion.
Beginning to what is a thankfully smaller Hump Day than had been expected. Grandma Dynamite is away for the rest of the month. Still, felt pretty rushed since the Tozai Line was having signal problems this morning. But no big problems.
The Cornerette seems to be one of those folks who likes to throw further addenda for me to translate. Hope I can keep up although I do have quite a few hours between Miss Sedona and The Carolinan today.
Got word from my former co-worker, The Trekkie, via e-mail that she'd seen "Star Trek", her apparent raison d'etre. Yep, she bawled her eyes out...the only one whom I could see do that for this movie. I think her seeing it again is a foregone conclusion.
Wednesday June 10, 4:36 p.m.
Not a total surprise...I got word from La Fille just now that Grandma Dynamite will be taking the rest of the month off due to an injury she suffered in Hawaii last week...apparently, it was a twisted ankle. She's always struck me as being a bit injury-prone. As much as it is a pity that she's had to suffer an indignity on her son's most important day, it also means that I don't have to do another early trip here tomorrow. Yes, that is indeed a very selfish thing to say...but frankly I don't give a flying F**K! When I have to lug my carcass across town in the wee hours of the morning to teach a lady who over the past several months has often started moaning and groaning about not feeling up to learning but still showing up, I simply will not have all that much sympathy.
Anyways, another guy who may have flown the coop is The Big Lug. I had forgotten that it was the last class on his current contract. However, he certainly didn't give the impression that he was finishing things off with us, although he said that he wouldn't be available til July. Strangely enough, the bossman looked a bit more pessimistic than I did. He asked me if The Lug had said something to me but the bossman was the one gabbing with him for a few minutes before I took over.
Taught The New Yorker in Ichigaya. She's getting ready for the big trip to Hawaii on Saturday. She did OK for her. I can only hope that she'll be spouting a few English phrases in The Aloha State.
Not a total surprise...I got word from La Fille just now that Grandma Dynamite will be taking the rest of the month off due to an injury she suffered in Hawaii last week...apparently, it was a twisted ankle. She's always struck me as being a bit injury-prone. As much as it is a pity that she's had to suffer an indignity on her son's most important day, it also means that I don't have to do another early trip here tomorrow. Yes, that is indeed a very selfish thing to say...but frankly I don't give a flying F**K! When I have to lug my carcass across town in the wee hours of the morning to teach a lady who over the past several months has often started moaning and groaning about not feeling up to learning but still showing up, I simply will not have all that much sympathy.
Anyways, another guy who may have flown the coop is The Big Lug. I had forgotten that it was the last class on his current contract. However, he certainly didn't give the impression that he was finishing things off with us, although he said that he wouldn't be available til July. Strangely enough, the bossman looked a bit more pessimistic than I did. He asked me if The Lug had said something to me but the bossman was the one gabbing with him for a few minutes before I took over.
Taught The New Yorker in Ichigaya. She's getting ready for the big trip to Hawaii on Saturday. She did OK for her. I can only hope that she'll be spouting a few English phrases in The Aloha State.
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Wednesday June 10, 10:18 a.m.
A Hump Day of sorts...got Miss Prissy and The Big Lug back-to-back and then I have to head on out to teach The New Yorker before she and her sister, The Carolinan, head on out to Hawaii this weekend. Then, it's the usual Wednesday night lineup. Kinda glad that The Admin has cancelled today.
Managed to get that first draft of the first of The Cornerette's translations done and sent over. Of course, she threw in an addendum to that first sheet.
Already starting to feel rather tired.
A Hump Day of sorts...got Miss Prissy and The Big Lug back-to-back and then I have to head on out to teach The New Yorker before she and her sister, The Carolinan, head on out to Hawaii this weekend. Then, it's the usual Wednesday night lineup. Kinda glad that The Admin has cancelled today.
Managed to get that first draft of the first of The Cornerette's translations done and sent over. Of course, she threw in an addendum to that first sheet.
Already starting to feel rather tired.
Tuesday June 9, 7:36 p.m.
Had a nice round with Suzanne. She's been having a bit of a drama in her life. Apparently, one of the staffers at her workplace is a bit of a nutter and has been doing a bit of stalking duty. Suzanne is pretty attractive so I can see where an obsessed fan can go a bit too far. However, she told him off and other things so he's been holding back...for now. Also, she may be heading for The Big Apple by herself for the very first time, so all of the class was talking about how to approach the solo trip to NYC. Gave her some insights from my own two trips there, including the time that a drug pusher opened up his trench coat in Central Park one morning to show us his store, so to speak. Never a dull moment there. Incidentally, I watched that "My City, My Life" feature on CNN with Candace Bushnell, the author behind "Sex and The City", talking about New York. Right from the start, she gave the sentence of the piece: "Visitors will get to New York and will either end up loving or hating New York". Suzanne's been there twice before with her family, so I assume that she falls solidly in the former category.
I've got The Milds in about 20 minutes. Wonder how I'll be approaching their lesson tonight considering last week's rather disappointing class. It was kinda like experiencing that final lesson with The Junior almost 2 years ago. All those years trying to educate and entertain the lass only to hear from her mother that she'd failed a simple test. I got out of Dodge really quickly after that.
In the middle of reading a major piece on Harry Potter in that film magazine that I'd bought on Sunday. I've seen all of the films but I can't say that I'm a huge fan of Rowling's magnum opus. Never really got into it...perhaps because it deals with teenagers...one of the subsets of humans that I avoid like the plague.
Had a nice round with Suzanne. She's been having a bit of a drama in her life. Apparently, one of the staffers at her workplace is a bit of a nutter and has been doing a bit of stalking duty. Suzanne is pretty attractive so I can see where an obsessed fan can go a bit too far. However, she told him off and other things so he's been holding back...for now. Also, she may be heading for The Big Apple by herself for the very first time, so all of the class was talking about how to approach the solo trip to NYC. Gave her some insights from my own two trips there, including the time that a drug pusher opened up his trench coat in Central Park one morning to show us his store, so to speak. Never a dull moment there. Incidentally, I watched that "My City, My Life" feature on CNN with Candace Bushnell, the author behind "Sex and The City", talking about New York. Right from the start, she gave the sentence of the piece: "Visitors will get to New York and will either end up loving or hating New York". Suzanne's been there twice before with her family, so I assume that she falls solidly in the former category.
I've got The Milds in about 20 minutes. Wonder how I'll be approaching their lesson tonight considering last week's rather disappointing class. It was kinda like experiencing that final lesson with The Junior almost 2 years ago. All those years trying to educate and entertain the lass only to hear from her mother that she'd failed a simple test. I got out of Dodge really quickly after that.
In the middle of reading a major piece on Harry Potter in that film magazine that I'd bought on Sunday. I've seen all of the films but I can't say that I'm a huge fan of Rowling's magnum opus. Never really got into it...perhaps because it deals with teenagers...one of the subsets of humans that I avoid like the plague.
Tuesday June 9, 4:11 p.m.
Had a rather strange message from Speedy; he asked me if I still had my TESOL Certificate somewhere. I told him that it was probably gathering dust and nits somewhere in my apartment. Apparently, something is up so that he would like to prove to visiting folks that the teachers are of top calibre. Well, I'll see if I can pull it out of the frame once I get home tonight. And it looks like Speedy is gonna hand off The Cracker to me officially. It works well for all of us. Speedy can get more time to do what he needs to do for the study abroad programmes, I get a plum student, and The Cracker enjoys my company. What more can we ask for?
As for my other big employer, the juku boss, it looks like she's had a rather tough few days, but nothing to do with her recovery. Apparently, that first replacement kids' teacher on Saturday was more of a businessman than a teacher, and the second guy to come in rated a "Perhaps..." on the efficiency scale. Hey, I don't see kids and I very rarely see the kids' teacher so I don't particularly care.
Had lunch at my ol' favourite Tonki. The telly there was showing about the future ruler of North Korea, that clone of mine. He's already garnered a fair amount of notoriety in this country by showing up at Narita several years ago on a fake passport. I'm sure the media there is probably trumpeting that up by saying that the shrewd scion of Kim could fool the bourgeois Japanese puppets of the United States. Ah, me. However I am feeling for the families of those two freelance journalists who may now have to face a true Hell on Earth in a North Korean labour camp.
Bought a couple of Kyotaro Nishimura mystery novels for Dad since Father's Day is coming up at the nearby Seiyu. Just need to get the card and off they will go. Also got the first batch of the Gatsby Menthol Wipes of the season. It's starting to get plenty moist out there.
Had a rather strange message from Speedy; he asked me if I still had my TESOL Certificate somewhere. I told him that it was probably gathering dust and nits somewhere in my apartment. Apparently, something is up so that he would like to prove to visiting folks that the teachers are of top calibre. Well, I'll see if I can pull it out of the frame once I get home tonight. And it looks like Speedy is gonna hand off The Cracker to me officially. It works well for all of us. Speedy can get more time to do what he needs to do for the study abroad programmes, I get a plum student, and The Cracker enjoys my company. What more can we ask for?
As for my other big employer, the juku boss, it looks like she's had a rather tough few days, but nothing to do with her recovery. Apparently, that first replacement kids' teacher on Saturday was more of a businessman than a teacher, and the second guy to come in rated a "Perhaps..." on the efficiency scale. Hey, I don't see kids and I very rarely see the kids' teacher so I don't particularly care.
Had lunch at my ol' favourite Tonki. The telly there was showing about the future ruler of North Korea, that clone of mine. He's already garnered a fair amount of notoriety in this country by showing up at Narita several years ago on a fake passport. I'm sure the media there is probably trumpeting that up by saying that the shrewd scion of Kim could fool the bourgeois Japanese puppets of the United States. Ah, me. However I am feeling for the families of those two freelance journalists who may now have to face a true Hell on Earth in a North Korean labour camp.
Bought a couple of Kyotaro Nishimura mystery novels for Dad since Father's Day is coming up at the nearby Seiyu. Just need to get the card and off they will go. Also got the first batch of the Gatsby Menthol Wipes of the season. It's starting to get plenty moist out there.
Monday, June 08, 2009
Tuesday June 9, 12:16 p.m.
Got some domestic stuff out of the way, such as finally cashing in that extra money from KDDI at the post office, and finally getting those blankets out to the cleaners. I feel sorry for those folks since they must handle a lot of funky stuff (and I mean not in the James Brown way). It'll just be the juku folks tonight.
Still have some "Star Trek" detritus to get out of my system, so you've been warned. I recently came to the surprising realization that this newest entry to the series is the only movie of said series that I've seen twice. Even "The Wrath of Khan" didn't get such repeat treatment. Mind you, back then I was just a high school kid on a very limited budget and leash. Those opening 10 minutes are still stuck in my mind; not particularly because I have an unhealthy attraction to that anime-eyed doctor on the Kelvin (I don't...really!). I think it's because I'd always wondered about a "Star Trek" movie having an epilogue in which the Klingons or other folks found themselves in some major carnage when one of the characters reaches out into space in a vain attempt of an SOS, then the theme song kicks in with the Enterprise coming to the rescue. Well, that beginning is the beginning of this movie.
However as much as I love this movie...yep, I don't have to scratch too far down to see some of the major holes in it. Whoever was the Creative Writing professor for the writers of "Star Trek" must've reached for the Jack Daniels in misery. Of course, the so-fast-my-nose-bled promotion of young Kirk from ousted Cadet to honoured Starfleet Captain pretty much broke the mold there. Not quite sure what Captain Pike was thinking when he left the Bridge for the very last time of his captaincy....one moment, he reminds Jim that he's not even supposed to be on the ship and then the next minute, he makes him First Officer....and this, during a major crisis. Later, even Spock leaves the ship putting 17-year-old Pavel Chekov in charge of the Federation flagship....again in a major crisis. That's either moxie or pretty slipshod discipline. Then, Security Guard Cupcake drags the hated Jim Kirk back to the Bridge and sees him become Captain. He must be wondering where he's gonna end up now that the guy he'd beaten into a pulp 3 years earlier is now his commanding officer. Probably cleaning engine manifolds with a toothbrush. Yup, not exactly the most logical writing there but it was still fun.
Anyways, it looks like MB is having another DVD night over at his place this weekend, which will coincide with my biweekly session with The Jyuppies since they live close by. He'll be calling up The Satyr and Miss Ivory to see if they can join up for dinner on Saturday.
Got some domestic stuff out of the way, such as finally cashing in that extra money from KDDI at the post office, and finally getting those blankets out to the cleaners. I feel sorry for those folks since they must handle a lot of funky stuff (and I mean not in the James Brown way). It'll just be the juku folks tonight.
Still have some "Star Trek" detritus to get out of my system, so you've been warned. I recently came to the surprising realization that this newest entry to the series is the only movie of said series that I've seen twice. Even "The Wrath of Khan" didn't get such repeat treatment. Mind you, back then I was just a high school kid on a very limited budget and leash. Those opening 10 minutes are still stuck in my mind; not particularly because I have an unhealthy attraction to that anime-eyed doctor on the Kelvin (I don't...really!). I think it's because I'd always wondered about a "Star Trek" movie having an epilogue in which the Klingons or other folks found themselves in some major carnage when one of the characters reaches out into space in a vain attempt of an SOS, then the theme song kicks in with the Enterprise coming to the rescue. Well, that beginning is the beginning of this movie.
However as much as I love this movie...yep, I don't have to scratch too far down to see some of the major holes in it. Whoever was the Creative Writing professor for the writers of "Star Trek" must've reached for the Jack Daniels in misery. Of course, the so-fast-my-nose-bled promotion of young Kirk from ousted Cadet to honoured Starfleet Captain pretty much broke the mold there. Not quite sure what Captain Pike was thinking when he left the Bridge for the very last time of his captaincy....one moment, he reminds Jim that he's not even supposed to be on the ship and then the next minute, he makes him First Officer....and this, during a major crisis. Later, even Spock leaves the ship putting 17-year-old Pavel Chekov in charge of the Federation flagship....again in a major crisis. That's either moxie or pretty slipshod discipline. Then, Security Guard Cupcake drags the hated Jim Kirk back to the Bridge and sees him become Captain. He must be wondering where he's gonna end up now that the guy he'd beaten into a pulp 3 years earlier is now his commanding officer. Probably cleaning engine manifolds with a toothbrush. Yup, not exactly the most logical writing there but it was still fun.
Anyways, it looks like MB is having another DVD night over at his place this weekend, which will coincide with my biweekly session with The Jyuppies since they live close by. He'll be calling up The Satyr and Miss Ivory to see if they can join up for dinner on Saturday.
Monday June 8, 7:27 p.m.
The picture on the left is of most of the Trek crew in Kabukicho a few weeks ago for the special sneak preview of the movie. No comment on whether Chris, John, Karl or Zachary decided to try out some of the more interesting aspects of the neighbourhood. Nice model of the ship.
Saw "Star Trek" for the 2nd time in as many weeks...this time, at Roppongi Hills. I had Theatre 4 which was a prototypically tiny cineplex scene. I think Chip Guy's screen in his house back in Toronto is only slightly smaller than this screen. Still, it was nice to see that it was basically a full house there for the 1:05 show as well as the 3:50 show. I picked the former one and took a seat right in the front row, so I suffered a bit of neck pain, but not unduly. I did have one fellow sitting not too far away from me who kinda smelled of one too many trips to the vending machines selling One Cup Ozeki but he was "kind enough" to sit away from me and I just used circular breathing techniques.
Seeing it a second time didn't lessen my enjoyment of the movie any. I was able to pay more attention to what everyone was saying, including the big argument around the Captain's Chair before Cadet Kirk was unceremoniously thrown off the ship by young Spock. Still got the throat lumps and the goose pimples at the appropriate moments. I think the first 10 minutes of the movie make up for the best beginning of any of the "Star Trek" films. Another observation is that compared to "The Wrath of Khan", which I'd seen all the way back in 1982 and in which all of the characters were far older than me, I realized that most of the actors in this new cast were quite a bit younger than me.
After the movie, I ended up spending nearly a couple of hours sipping away at some iced coffee in Cafe Espresso in Roppongi Hills itself. The coffee shop had that veneer of slick trendiness, including a table with a bunch of coffeetable books. Unfortunately, that attempt at added sophistication didn't prevent some of the riffraff from coming in, including a loud obnoxious gyaru just yelling away into her cellphone....someone apparently didn't instruct her that microphones were quite advanced now. My Sunday spending on luxuries didn't stop with the cafe; I ended up buying the inaugural issue of Britain's newest movie mag called "Filmstar" for 1,533 yen. Yup, pretty dear price but it did boast over 180 pages. There was an article on Quentin Tarentino's latest magnum opus, "Inglourious Basterds". That picture of crazed Eli Roth as the Bear Jew is worth the admission itstelf.
Met up with The Sisters of State at Tokyo Midtown for our burger dinner at Baker Bounce. They were pretty sussed about making yet another trip to The Aloha State from this Saturday. They were bemused and amused at my choice of Chocolate Milkshake with my Bacon Cheeseburger...hey, gotta go with the flow. The ladies enjoyed their Avocado Burgers but wouldn't bite for the apple pie as dessert. Instead, we just walked down the rest of Midtown and had some green tea over at Koots near the subway.
Today is pretty easy on the mind. I just have three lessons today. Had SIL for our usual 90-minute chat and then it was The Full-Timer. She'd been absent from last week's lesson due to her nervousness from last Tuesday's job interview. Actually, though, she did quite well and is heading for the second round of interviews tomorrow at the same place. Hope she does even better. I just have The Medicine Man to wrap up.
Tomorrow will be even easier since I only have the juku folks. Suzanne is back from her 1-week absence due to an afternoon date with her beau and then I have to do something about raising the spirits of The Milds after their rather mediocre performance last week. I can certainly use the time to spruce up the place.
Speedy is back after his second and last marathon business trip of the year. He looked at my schedule and saw how packed it was. I've quietly determined that I won't be accepting any more reservations for Wednesday and Thursday. I got a bit of relief when The Admin sent e-mail over stating that she has to cancel this week's session due to her son's school event. I will also need all the vitamin drinks I can get since I've got another pile of translations to do, thanks to The Cornerette.