Sunday January 18, 2:02 p.m.

Just finished knocking off those translations for Cozy. He tried to get me at 9 last night but I said that I probably wouldn't make that time getting home and he had some plans soon afterward. Still, I fulfilled my duty by coming over to an empty Speedy's.

Around this time yesterday, as I was getting ready for The Businesswoman's lesson, there was a bit of a Keystone Kops farce going on outside in the outer office...and the lobby. Speedy has been interviewing prospective teachers for lessons that neither he nor I could do for the past few days. The 2nd guy in line for the interview caused a bit of an uproar with the superintendant of the building when he screwed up the intercom to let him in and then proceeded to try to force open the door in the lobby...which was the door to the super's apartment. The nimrod could've used his cellphone to contact Speedy upstairs, but no, he had to stir up Hell. The super was far from pleased and gave an earful to Speedy; the super and the nimrod ended up in a "Lost In Translation" situation with neither speaking the other's language although a lot of confused, angry communication took place. Basically, Speedy had to rush down from his interview with the first guy to sort out the situation and then apologize profusely to the super. Not exactly a great day for him. Nimrod looked rather forlorn as he sat out in the outer office while Speedy ended the first interview; I'm sure he was thinking that he lost any chance at a job with us. Speedy pretty much reached that conclusion last night.

Movie Buddy contacted me about getting together for "Quantum of Solace" next Sunday. Yep, the flick is just gonna reach these shores next Saturday. Looks like I'll be getting a bunch of souvenirs ready for he, The Satyr and Skippy. I gave my calendars to Tully & The Coffeemaker this morning. Had a good session with those two.

Now, as I finish this, I'll be heading back home before the rains come in to see if I can get one of those plastic binnies for storage at the neighbourhood Daiei now that I've got room in the apartment.

Almost finished the Linehan bio. The book seemed to cleave away into four sections: the life of the Linehan family in Hamilton when Brian grew up, Brian Linehan the legendary interviewer and his jetsetting years, the Zane Wegman suicide, and then Linehan's doomed battle with cancer. Did get some insight into suicide and dying from it.

It may just be a cold weekend here in The Big Sushi, but over in the States, it's Obama Weekend. I've never seen such a big media deal made over the inauguration of a president, even a US president. I think CNN should just change its first letter for the next few days to "O". Well, I shouldn't be that sassy. I'm planning to be up at 2 a.m. Wednesday morning to see Barack take the Oath of Office. I'm just praying that neither The Nurse nor any other student will be making any lesson requests on Hump Day. I may even consider stating to the bossman that I won't be available on Wednesday.

Anyways, ready to head on home.

Saturday January 17, 11:04 a.m.

Here for another round of lessons at Speedy's. Fairly chilly here...which would translate as frigid for Tokyoites. I would transplant all 14 million of them over to Toronto right now and then they would realize what COLD really was.

I'm reaching the end of Brian Linehan's biography written by his good friend, George Anthony. I guess the best two words I could use to describe the late interviewer is "Glorious Bastard"...as an indirect crack at Quentin Tarentino's upcoming movie. He was a great guy to see in his element but probably someone I would end up avoiding like a plague outside. I could only imagine that perhaps someday someone might be tempted to make a made-for-TV movie of this guy...only in Canada, though.

Walking through the darkness of old Urayasu where the juku is located, I've been noticing that things have been getting a bit seedier there of late. The area has always had that inner city sheen about it, especially compared to the relative luxury of new Urayasu which is closer to Tokyo Disneyland. But on Tuesday, Suzanne and I heard a brief but intense argument outside the house and on my way walking to the juku, a couple of ladies were having a major fight on the sidewalk. And of course, the area around Urayasu Station at night is pretty raucous with kids. Not gonna say that the neighbourhood is approaching Times Square circa 1980 or even Kabukicho but I am noticing.

Friday January 16, 6:45 p.m.

The two-hour session with Swank was pretty relaxed though she still got an educational workout. As it turns out, she won't be taking the Eiken 1 test at the end of the month after all since she feels that she couldn't devote enough time for study so the next time will be June. Either she'll be hanging out with us at Speedy's for another half-year, or she'll be saying goodbye in a couple of weeks.

Had dinner at the usual Urayasu family restaurant and then I popped up here at the juku. The juku boss did some mock panicking at the fact that I'd come so early. I recall sometime last year that I arrived a little past 8 and she almost accused me of being later than usual. Just can't satisfy women.

Now that I've got a chunk of tatami space where there used to be a beaten-down sofa, I've gotta think about the storage space that I'd like to put down there along with one of those low-to-the-ground recliners. It certainly felt a a bit weird this morning sitting down.

Speedy attended that wingding at The Hotel New Otani (where I used to teach The Class Act before I went freelance) for the Prime Minister of Ireland. He was never sure why he had been given his golden invitation. STill, he went and tried to schmooze as best he could. I gather that his work for study-abroad programmes in the Emerald Isle didn't go unnoticed. Still, he felt like a fifth wheel there. I can sympathize...before I started the custom of bringing an entourage to The Lady's Xmas parties, I didn't feel too in place there.

I'm making some headway on that translation for The Corner. I've yet to hear from Cozy about my submission for his translation request. I remember him telling me that there may be a lot more to come my way...it is approaching tax season, after all.

Friday January 16, 7:55 a.m.

Yep, here bright and early. Already feel like I need another 3-week vacation. I think I did put down as one of my New Year's Resolutions that I would try to get myself out of these late night-early morning transitions...don't think that's gonna happen anytime soon. Unless my translation gigs get really enormous so that I can actually take a sabbatical from Speedy's. However, I did successfully carry out one Resolution...well, half of it anyways...as soon as I got home...past midnight...I wrestled out one of my two sofas all the way downstairs to the garbage pick-up zone. I had been thinking about doing it first thing this morning but I think it was far better to get it over with last night. Not exactly the easiest thing to do and I was worried that someone would decide to make off with it overnight but it was still there when I left the apartment at the crazy hour of 6 a.m. It was just too cold last night for anyone to go for free furniture, I guess. There has been a penchant for folks to rummage around to see if they can find some freebies...not just used manga. At this time, the sodaigomi people should have picked up my compressed furniture by now. As I left, I gave the sofa the gold-watch equivalent of a pat.

Speaking of interior transitions, the White House is now down to its last 4 days before Bush goes and Obama comes. The Inauguration of the Century seems to be taking on Hollywood proportions in the pomp and (dire) circumstances that the US is going through right now. President no. 44 is facing a Middle East crisis, a belligerent Russia, the usual threats from Muslim extremists, a couple of embarrassments in his Cabinet picks, and of course, the global economic meltdown. However, it looks like the first First Lady in American history to get a key Cabinet position will be doing so. And what got my eyes opened was hearing that Obama may be tapping Dr. Sanjay Gupta to be his Surgeon-General. Not sure if this is true news or not but if the telegenic Dr. Gupta does become Top Doc, he'll be the most famous one since his mug has been popping up almost daily on CNN.

As for me today, I've just got my usual students in the form of Prissy, the Eiken student and the bunch at the juku tonight. I'll be properly exhausted by tonight. Just grateful that Mr. TOEIC has officially switched his lesson to the last slot tomorrow instead of first thing in the morning.

Did break my first resolution of not going to McDonalds by having McBreakfast there this morning. However, I'll still hold off as long as I can from having Big Macs. And in any case, I figure if you're gonna load up on empty calories, you can do so for breakfast. Pretty nice rationalization.

Thursday January 15, 9:04 p.m.

Well, I was able to get that translation rush job done for Cozy. Hopefully, it passes muster but I think there will be a bit of a discussion back-and-forth before it's finally accepted. I've yet to really get into The Corner's translations; I may have to come in on the Sunday to get that done.

I went down to the Excelsior Cafe in Shinjuku to see The Carolinan. She's lost weight since I saw her back in mid-December. I've only got Medicine Man tonight and then I have to get back home to throw out one of my two sofas. Yes, after 14 years of good use and a lowering of several centimetres, it's time to make some more space in the living room. Paid my large-garbage payment stamps (was surprised that it doesn't cost all that much to pitch a sofa out...just 2,000 yen). But I'll be struggling to bring down the two parts early in the morning since I'll probably be groggy, and I have to be out and on the subway by around 6:30 a.m.

The big news here today is about a stabbing death of a professor at one of the big universities in Tokyo. And it happened on campus in one of the buildings which has gotten the students there pretty nervous. I have a feeling that this isn't a random act, though...maybe it was an ex-student with a grudge.

I managed to track down that YouTube video of the Vocaloid version of The Ielvan Polka that The Anime King had introduced during my Xmas vacation. Apparently, the tune originally came from one of the Nordic countries. Well, it's managed to insinuate itself into my brain like termites in a wooden house.

Thursday January 15, 4:33 p.m.

I've been doing a rush job for Cozy. I told him that I would probably be able to get it back to him on Friday or Saturday, but with a bit of luck, I may even be able to get it off to him before I see Medicine Man tonight. However, I'll be taking off in a few minutes for The Carolinan's lesson at a Shinjuku cafe. I don't want to always depend on this school to house my private students.

Looks like we lost a couple of old-time celebs: one who used to run an island, another who just desperately wanted to get off one. First off, Ricardo Montalban, famous for Mr. Roarke, Khan Noonien Singh and Corinthian leather, finally passed on. And Patrick McGoohan of "The Prisoner" has gone to that Village in the sky. I guess it'll have to "be NOT seeing you".

Wednesday January 14, 4:59 p.m.

Just finished up revising The Stick's resume. Yep, my former student sent me over her English-language of her CV for proofreading. So, happy to have gotten that done.

And it looks like Grandma Dynamite did give the cancel order to her lessons with Speedy and me for tomorrow. Well, at least I can get some more shuteye in the mornings...that is, unless The Smile requests her early morning classes again. Haven't heard from her yet since I got back. Dynamite will be keeping a low profile for the next 2 months at least.

Saw The New Yorker in Ichigaya. She had a good session today...applied the grammar pretty well. She also appreciated the calendar of Toronto. Looks like she had a fairly quiet New Year's.

Well, I'll be having my usual Wednesday night crew starting in an hour. 001 is back along with The Diver and The Fashion Designer. The Diver will be the one to keep an eye on since I'll be starting that crash review of the entire text from tonight. Not sure if the month's absence will have her revert to her Nervous Nellie of almost a year ago.

Finished the Season One DVDs of "Get Smart". Gotta say that Don Adams gets my respect for doing a lot of his stunts well despite his character as a bumbling CONTROL agent. That was him fighting a KAOS agent in the pool. That was him doing the punchups with stuntmen. I listened to the lone commentary by Barbara "99" Feldon; it was interesting to hear how she had to slouch and wear flats so that she wouldn't tower over her co-star.

Wednesday January 14, 12:38 p.m.

So far, so good for my first Hump Day of 2009. Just had Grandma Enka for the monthly chit-chat. She liberally mixes Japanese with her English to the extent that I'm never sure if she's actually getting anything out of the 60, but she seems to be quite happy. She told me that her sister, Grandma Dynamite, has been ailing of late so we're not quite sure of her status for tomorrow morning.

I'll be heading out in about a few minutes to teach The New Yorker in Ichigaya. I've got her sister, The Carolinan, tomorrow night. It's been over a month since I've taught The New Yorker so I'm not sure what her ability will be like. Probably very rusted. I did get word from Tully that he and The Coffeemaker will be OK for Sunday morning. Looks like I'm getting back into the swing of things.

And the translations are starting to pop up as well. Cozy gave me the heads-up on some work heading my way in the next few weeks. I've already got stuff from The Corner.

I heard that Mr. TOEIC will be shifting his lesson from early Saturday morning to late Saturday night. Well, at least, I'll get some shuteye on Friday night.

Tuesday January 13, 5:25 p.m.

Had my first Beehive session with the ladies. They thanked me for helping them relay the gifts and good wishes to Mrs. Tulip back in Toronto. Mrs. Travel suffered a bit of a concussion after falling on some icy ground up in Karuizawa the other day. The topic of discussion was on the effects of the plummeting economy. Each of the ladies told me about neighbours they knew who had been laid off. A couple of them were from Honda. I figure that the crime rate will go up. And CNN is reporting that the number of homeless has also gone up. I think for a lot of people, recession will be a new and disturbing feeling.

The long weekend was good for relaxing. Had a binge of shopping in Shibuya and Shinjuku. I've been trying to keep my New Year's resolution of trying to get fit again after 3 weeks of noshing back home. I've been sticking to as many stairs as possible in lieu of elevators. I've been proud of the fact that I haven't hit a McDs in almost a month.

KDDI is getting on my tail about my disconnected line since I'm now with Ichikawa Cable. They sent a notice asking for my modem back. No particular problems there....I even called the customer service centre but I could only get 50% of what the guy was rattling off his tongue, so I just went with my original plan of writing them a letter. Hopefully, I won't be getting any more red tape.

I've got the usual suspects tonight. I have Suzanne and then The Artist followed by The Milds. The juku boss is still coming back from her operation.

Saturday January 10, 4:51 p.m.

Finished up with The Intellectual and The PA. The Intellectual was as talkative as he usually is. The PA seemed a bit sleepy-headed although she did appreciate my omiyage of a Canadian calendar. My photos from Toronto helped drive the lesson throughout the day.

Over the last couple of days, I have been in surprise communication with an old high school buddy whom I hadn't heard from in about 25 years. He somehow managed to track me down on Facebook. He had some maturity issues back then but it looks like he's fully grown now with his own business to boot. He even got me onto another old classmate who's on the forum so I've sent him a message.

I had our staffer look through that letter from KDDI; apparently, they said that they would cut my service with the Internet provider that I never used so that I don't end up paying money endlessly. Serves me fine. I'll send a letter in response just so that they know what's happened in good faith.

The Corner has sent me the final 7 pages to be translated for that Hokkaido website. Nice to be able to make a bit of money on the side.

Speedy informed me that The Trekkie has left the coop since she was only meant to work until the end of the year. Pity about that...she was quite a character. I was going to ask her about what she thought of the passing of Majel Barrett.

Saturday January 10, 1:42 p.m.

I'm halfway through the lessons. Finished up my double with Mr. TOEIC and then the single with Mr. Pronunciation. Was regaling both about my culinary exploration of Toronto's restaurants, especially for the latter guy since he'll be studying there for the latter 6 months of the year. I showed him the pics from the Sunset Grill, the breakfast place that Automan had taken me, The Wild Thing and their significant others a couple of weeks ago. Man, I'm gonna spoil Mr. Pronunciation before he takes off.

Just very briefly spoke with the bossman since I'm in classes and he's in interviews for that new teacher. I figure that he'll want to talk with me after my lesson with The PA is over about what's been happening over the past few weeks.

Saturday January 10, 9:51 a.m.

Have a brief respite due to a late Mr. TOEIC. Back at Speedy's right now. Looks like it's gonna be a busy one but not just for me. Speedy is apparently going to be interviewing three folks to potentially take over for one of our part-timers who will be leaving us. I was gonna suggest that we could use another full-timer to give me a bit more breathing room.

Mr. Mild came by with all of my accumulated mail during my absence including a number of New Year's cards. I also got a letter from KDDI concerned about my decision to cut off my NTT line; apparently, they didn't get the memo about my switching over to Ichikawa Cable. I rather expected that this would happen.

Friday January 9, 8:10 p.m.

Just found out that there may be a good chance of sleet or full-blown snow heading into the Kanto tomorrow. Ohhh...just great...right in time for my first full day of work at Speedy's. And over here, if a single snowflake were to get onto a JR track, there would be mayhem. I'm gonna have to keep a good eye on the weather and traffic reports tonight.

The juku boss came in right now to give me a piece of cake, stating that she can only eat a quarter of what she could eat up to early December. I kinda wonder if she underwent gastric stapling

Did forget to mention that I'd also seen "Tropic Thunder" on the plane coming back. Yep, fairly funny and very profane. There was absolutely no way that even Air Canada censors could cut out the swearing. Otherwise, the movie would've been just 5 minutes long (reminds me of that sight gag on the "South Park" movie from a decade ago about a non-profanity version of the kids' favourite movie). So, the censors gave up and kept a lot of the potty-mouthed results in. Yep, Tom Cruise still has the moves after 25 years. I think those closing credits have garnered him more respect than anything in "Valkyrie".

Friday January 9, 2009, 7:44 p.m.

Back at the juku for the first time this year. I initially had come by around 5:30 but the house was locked and I had forgotten to put back my house key into my wallet. However, it was good that I already had a Plan B in mind. I ended up having dinner at The Restauranteur's place just down the street. Friday nights are usually pretty quiet there. I was the only one there for several minutes before some factory workers came on in. The Restauranteur became the first of my omiyage donees as I gave her my Ontario calendar. She inquired about the boss' health so obviously she hadn't seen her in almost a month. After my hearty dinner of wafu hamburger there, I spent the next hour just glancing through an issue of TokyoWalker, the weekly magazine on what to do in The Big Sushi.Most of that time was actually just spent walking through the crowded, musty corridors of my mind since I really can't read kanji all that fluently. However, The Restauranteur glanced at my supposed reading and was impressed by my Japanese ability.

I took another look at the juku after dinner, and relievedly, found the place back open. The juku boss was thinner but not alarmingly so. She was quite happy to reiterate how the surgery went. I was just happy to see that she was recovering nicely although apparently a few of her wardmates didn't survive. Just as I passed through the genkan, Mr. Mild called to say that he would be dropping by the juku at about 10, at the end of my lesson with The Restauranteur with my mail. Looks like I'll be able to give away all of today's omiyage, thereby lightening my load considerably.

Speedy left a message on the machine for the first time this year. Yep, it'll be a busy one tomorrow starting with that double with Mr. TOEIC. And The New Yorker sent word abouther next lesson.

With all of the changes going on in pop culture, the next big one I've heard is the announcement of the next Doctor Who...a much-anticipated event in Britain along the lines of a selection of a new Pope. Apparently, it isn't The Next Doctor, David Morrissey, but that was pretty obvious. Instead, the producers are going even younger than baby-faced David Tennant and going with a junior Thin White Duke type named Matt Smith. Geez, he does seem to be David Bowie's love child...he's even younger than when Peter Davison took the role. Of course, there has been some griping that the new kid simply cannot have the gravitas to play a 900-ear-old Time Lord. But then again, I'm reminded of all the furor against the new James Bond and where did those naysayers go? So, I'm not too worried and it'll probably be another year before we actually get to see the Eleventh Doctor.

Friday January 9, 3:29 p.m.

Well, I'm back after 3 weeks of Christmas vacation in Toronto! A very belated Happy New Year to you all. I was watching the first season of the original TV series of "Get Smart" with Don Adams and came across the episode in which Agent 86 remarked with some surprise and resentment that certain others were getting 3 weeks of holidays. I hope that is not the reaction I'm getting from some students...well, not that it would matter anyways...I'll get my 3 weeks every time.

Got back home last night after several hours of flight time elongated by a stopover in Vancouver and a delayed takeoff from Pearson due to the snow. I'm back here in relatively warmer weather of 5 degrees C and rain. It felt a bit weird to be back in Japan even though I've been living here for over 14 years...almost as if I didn't really fit. I guess my latest trip back to the hometown had some poignancy since my father has definitely become one of the elderly and my friends have become harder to meet up with due to the increasing demands of family life. Still, it was good seeing everyone.

The flight itself was filled with movies to watch and a book to read. I managed to see "WALL*E", "Hellboy 2" and "X-Files: I Want To Believe". "WALL*E" was worth catching twice...I realized I caught it on this small screen but it was that good....had to be for me to choose it 2 times on an airplane. Definitely will get the DVD. "Hellboy 2" was good enough to catch once although the final battle was somewhat anti-climactic...but I've got a feeling that "Hellboy 3" will be in the pipe. As for the latest X-Files movie...man, that only deserved to be shown as an extra-special TV episode, not as a motion picture. The gruesome plot was interesting but not enough to launch it anywhere as a hit movie. And it should prove as a cautionary tale to those directors on the risks of having romantic tension collapse.

The Holidays are ironically also a time in which celebs seem to die off. Just in the past 3 weeks, we've lost Van Johnson, Eartha Kitt and Majel Barrett Roddenberry, the matriarch of "Star Trek". And here in Japan, I saw the late Ai Iijima's face on a number of ads for tabloids wondering aloud about the circumstances behind her death.

I've been watching as a bit of weaning from life in North America the 1st season of "Get Smart". I had vaguely remembered the pilot episode as being the only one to be shot in black & white in the entire series. I had forgotten that The Cone of Silence was actually introduced in the pilot. Never forgot that Barbara Feldon was such a babe. And she's now even older than my Dad! I've got quite a few DVDs to get through...sets of "Family Guy", "Futurama" and the 1st season of "Mission: Impossible". Plus, I also have the classic "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" with Steve Martin and Michael Caine.

My omiyage season starts today. I've got calendars to give out to the juku boss, The Milds, The Ace and The Restauranteur. The Ace gets the added bonus of getting some Second Cup and Tim Hortons coffee since he's such a connoisseur of the stuff. Plus, The Milds get some T-shirts from me. Unfortunately, my stupidity resulted in my bottle of Crown Royal for Mr. Mild getting confiscated during the Customs search back at Pearson...I somehow hadn't realized that the restriction on liquids also extended to alcohol. Well, I'll fix that. The juku boss sounded a bit hoarse on the phone but otherwise, she was still pretty genki despite that rather major piece of surgery last month. I hope she looks as fine as she almost sounded although she had warned me that she might look a bit gaunt for the next little while.

I got a pretty full slate at Speedy's tomorrow although The Bostonian has cancelled her lesson. I've got Mr. TOEIC, Mr. Pronounciation, The Intellectual and The PA before we go into the long weekend of Adulthood Day on Monday. I fully expect to hear of delinquent teens making trouble though I will probably be curtailing viewing of Japanese TV for the next several days due to my DVD purchases.

I've been reading the biography of the late, great Torontonian interviewer Brian Linehan since I got on the plane. Probably not many regular folks would either know or remember him; it was more the media and entertainment cognoscenti who would, though. This was the monkey-faced fellow who had the mind of a steel trap filled to overflowing with all sorts of minutiae on his interviewees...a fact that got him parodied by Martin Short on SCTV in the character of Brock Linehan. Brian Linehan garnered a lot of respect and love from a good bunch of Hollywood types because of his interview style and a good deal of resentment and jealousy from his fellow journalists. He could either be seen as one of the most unique and best interviewers that the media had ever seen or will ever see or as a sycophantic suck-up with a vindictive nature against those who crossed him. I think the book shows him off as both by his best friend, George Anthony.

Not sure what this year will bring. This will be the year of uncertainty for everyone here in Japan. But I know that I will be changing a number of things about myself. My apartment...at least the interior will be one of the first things.

Thursday December 25, 2:33 p.m.

Well, it's been quite an interesting week for me since I officially went on Xmas hiatus. The plane ride was actually rather uneventful, and I think the stopover in Vancouver was better for me than a direct non-stop since it gave me a chance to stretch my legs and look at something other than the personal screen for 13 hours straight. The only downside was having to wait over half an hour at both VCR and YYZ for my suitcase to pop out of the carousel.

Meterologically, Toronto hasn't let me down. It has been a showcase of all kinds of weather...the climactic version of "A Night of a Hundred Stars". First off, we've had two or three snowstorms blast through T.O. but today is a balmy 6 degrees C and Saturday promises to be a blistering 11 C. All this after going through the first few days of -15 C weather.

My social calendar has been OK although the first five days were spent virtually at home or in the immediate neighbourhood. Actually, I had my first outing with friends a couple of nights ago with some of my old classmates from university. We were supposed to have met on Friday night, but the first storm left those plans in tatters. And that other night wasn't exactly the greatest night either. Ironically, the guy who planned it all, Ol' Sam, ended up taking 3 hours to get from his place to The Keg since traffic was tied up from the snow. Still, he and his wife made it to see me, The Engineer and his new wife, and some of the others for dinner. Our waitress was almost annoyingly perky...still, I gave a generous tip. The Engineer remarked that a lot of these food service professionals are trying for thespian careers.

Yesterday on Xmas Eve, I pulled off a double by meeting The Entrepreneur for lunch at The Mongolian Grill near Don Mills, and then braving the horrible slush downtown and meeting up with Shard in his renovated house. Muddy slush is one thing I will never miss being in Japan.

Back on Monday, I met up with my old student, Mrs Tulip, at Hospital for Sick Children. Her elder daughter has been hospitalized for about a couple of months, but hopefully, she'll finally be discharged tomorrow. I am hoping for good news there. I'd never been in the world-famous institution...so I was rather impressed to see that one wing looked like the atrium of a huge hotel. Beforehand, I had walked through the deserted environs of U of T since it was on official holiday. Ended up having lunch at Swiss Chalet, one of my must-dos whenever I get back into Toronto. I wasn't disappointed although I waited for over half an hour to get a table. The special sauce is one of the most hotly debated topics anywhere. The university always seems to gain some new sparkly building. There was another one at the north end of the St. George campus which looked like Kal-El's crystal ship.

Today, it was the usual thing of getting up early and then being whisked off by my brother to the morning church service. His family has started going to another bigger church with more developed facilities. The main sanctuary looked like the bridge of the Enterprise with its own wide viewscreen at the front. There was a little play performed on stage about the reason behind Xmas...one guy did act like Shatner.

Every time I get back home, I usually fall into the habit of catching one particular show on the telly. Last time, it was "CSI: Miami" but this time around, I've been catching a lot of "Robot Chicken" and "Family Guy". Would love to grab those DVD sets.

The other strange theme I've been encountering this trip has been one of life and death. Since I got back here, I've been encountering new and upcoming births and the pitter-patter of little feet. Ol' Sam's wife is expecting, Chip Guy has just gotten a second daughter and of course, my niece is just running and gabbing around. But to counter that, I found out from The Bohemian that his grandmother had just passed away...which adds a third person to be excluded on the don't send list for nengajo. Unfortunately, he didn't send me the news until two days after I'd already sent out the cards. But the somewhat surprising news was a celeb death on Xmas Eve back in Japan. Ai Iijima, the hardcore porn actress-turned-TV personality, was found dead in her apartment yesterday. I found out the news yesterday morning during breakfast; my jaw hit the table momentarily. But then again, I shouldn't have been surprised...she'd retired from show biz less than 2 years ago under some mysterious circumstances with the rumours of serious disease and depression swirling around her. It's definitely a very sad end, though. Iijima was one-of-a-kind for show biz....anywhere on the planet. Porn actresses have ended up breaking into other genres or completely different industries (such as that woman in Italy who ran for its parliament) but they still built their new fame on top of their old one. Ai Iijima was also well known for her original career and it did help her get into the more mainstream one. However, she's the only ex-porn star I know who was able to make the full transition into regular tarento without ever needing to use her former status as a crutch....unless it was to make a point, which she did several years ago with her book, "Platonic Sex" which was made into a movie and a 2-part TV special. Although I have no doubt that most people beyond their teens knew about her more sordid past, they saw Ms. Iijima as just that regular talking head on the tube...bantering about food and throwing insults at the comedians. As I said, a very sad end to a woman who had a tough but interesting life.

Speaking of colourful personalities, I finally did get a chance to take a close look at cooking's enfant terrible, Gordon Ramsay, on The Food Network, the other day. I knew about his reputation as a profanity-spewing, chef-destroying force of nature and figured him to be a vainglorious bully opportunist. However, after having caught an episode of "Restaurant Nightmares", I've changed my mind on him slightly. He was called in to save an Italian restaurant from the mismanagement of its young and arrogant chef-owner. What I saw wasn't an ogre breaking down a chef into little bits just for some psychopathic fun but a version of a military drill instructor showing a raw recruit a bit of tough love...breaking him down of his ingrained bad habits before building him back up into a better chef-businessman. It was interesting to watch; Ramsay showed up on a local interview show last night as well...he came off as being quite personable although with some very straight answers.

Anyways, just got off the phone with X. Looks like everything is coming into place for Saturday's get-together at Yonge-Eglinton. Tomorrow will be a day with The Anime King and his Court. And in a few hours, it'll be Xmas dinner with the whole family.

Wednesday December 17, 3:21 p.m.

Well, had that dinner at Gen Nakamura. Not a person's name but the name of a restaurant in Ebisu. It's actually a reconverted apartment, and by the looks of the interior, it must've been a pretty large apartment. It did look like a true restaurant inside. The Carolinan made the call on this one and she picked well; the fare was a bit more different from the usual run-of-the-mill izakaya. The main dish was a hot pot for which the broth was 100% collagen...a woman's best friend in Japan. It looked rather groady since it looked like pale yellow blocks of wobbly stuff and it didn't have much of a taste but when it melted during the cooking and we put in the chunks of chicken and veggies, it made for a satisfying meal.

Some of the old folks from the ol' school were there: SR, The Jazz Singer, and of course, California Girl with her hubby and buddies. The Jazz Singer just got engaged last week so she was fairly glowing...even without the collagen. Both she and SR were asking about my services once again, but not sure if I can even fit them into the schedule.

And it looks like Ol' Sam has been getting the old gang together for dinner on Friday night. Looks like City Hall will be the meeting place.

Tuesday December 16, 6:11 p.m.

It's been a busy last few days. I've had to prep stuff for Speedy since he'll be spelling me for the next couple of lessons for Swank...and prepping for Swank is always a bit of an epic. Finally got the shopping out of the way. Bought two more books for the parentals and got stuff for The Anime King and his court. Binged at the Akiba kaiten sushi place at the top of Yodobashi Camera and sacrificed over 3,000 yen; worth every little silver yen.

Officially, I'm on holiday but I'm here at Speedys, having taken the past several hours to write up the stuff on Swank. Ray and The Trekkie are having a mock debate on the significance of Santa Claus. The Trekkie was gobsmacked when she found out that Kris' abode is in my country. I naturally pointed out the fact that his clothes are indeed red-and-white.

On Sunday, I did take Tully and The Coffeemaker for brunch at Fujimamas. It was one of the rainiest and coldest days that I'd experienced all year as I explored Kiddyland for a few minutes while waiting for the two. The third floor is now devoted to Snoopy and the Peanuts gang. As for Fujimamas, there was no sign of that snooty waitress who had the temerity to snort at my single status when I'd arrived at the place for Xmas dinner some years back. I once again had The Plate, the dish of just about every breakfast item available. It used to be served on big long platter but now apparently too many customers probably complained about the syrup getting into all of the savory stuff like the sausages so now the hotcakes come on a separate dish. Tully and The Coffeemaker enjoyed the fare there. I even got a present in the form of a Swiss Army Knife from them.

Later in the evening, after some running around for Xmas, I met up with Movie Buddy and The Satyr plus their significant others, The Sylph and Miss Ivory, and Skippy in front of Picadilly in Shinjuku. Unfortunately, Skippy had to skip out to a prior engagement so it was a very brief round of greetings between her and me. The rest of us ended up having dinner at Foo Foo for the usual pai ko tan tan men. Even with the walk up from Omotesando to Shinjuku, I hadn't completely walked off all those calories from the brunch, so it was a bit of a slog to get through the huge bowl of ramen at Foo Foo. Still, I had enough room in the ol' belly for dessert at a place in Lumine.

Yesterday was my last official day of work for the year. It was a full slate of The Class Act, SIL, The Full-Timer and Medicine Man. Even The Businesswoman managed to squeeze in an hour in a rare Monday appearance. The Full-Timer had just come back from France after her first trip there. She definitely had a good time. Her theme was also food-based; she showed me a rash of the dishes she and her colleagues had noshed on there. She was also pleasantly surprised that the French in Paris were not at all rude and snooty.

In about 20 or so minutes, I'll be heading out to Ebisu to meet up with California Girl and her hubby, SR and The Carolinan for a reunion of sorts at some apartment-converted restaurant near the station. Can't really stay too long since I'm gonna be pretty busy.

Saturday December 13, 12:34 p.m.

Well, got through the guys. Mr. TOEIC and I basically noshed on favourite foods. We exchanged ramen and burger tales. I gave him my point card for the amazing Foo Foo. TOEIC remarked that the burgers at MosBurger, arguably producers of the best burgers of all the fast food chains in Tokyo, have shrunk due to the oil shock of '08. The Intellectual and I spoke on more esoteric fare such as the increasing numbers of elderly and how to take care of them.

I was talking with Marcie about this year's crop of nengajo or New Year's Cards. I wasn't quite sure when I should send them Every year at this time, there is an official date set when it's OK to send the cards out so that they get to people's homes on January 1. Marcie reassured me that probably Monday will be OK. If it had been much later, I would've had to give them to Speedy or someone to send out and I would much rather face 001 in a chug-a-lug contest than do that since my calligraphy is just horrible. Any resemblance between my kanji and that of a Grade 1 student is purely coincidental. And I just can't seem to keep the letters in a straight line. The recipients of my nengajo must wonder if my printing has a bad case of scoliosis. Well, at least they should get a nice laugh out of it.

Just munched down too much lunch again. I had to share my dessert with Marcie. Next up are three ladies.

Saturday December 13, 9:21 a.m.

Coming across some entertainment stuff of the sad, surprising and not-so-surprising variety. As for the sad part, I just read that actor Van Johnson passed away today. Even as a child, I remembered his name for some reason...I think he popped up a lot in guest roles on TV shows and commercials. But of course, he was the wishy-washy Lt. Maryk on "The Caine Mutiny". Never won an Oscar or got nominated for one.

Of the surprising variety, I also read that Hugh "Wolverine" Jackman is gonna host the next Oscar Awards. I can just imagine Jon Stewart and David Letterman having a field day with this one.

And then, there is the news that the revamped "The Day The Earth Stood Still" has been getting bad reviews. No, not all that surprising, although the casting of Keanu Reeves as Klaatu was pitch-perfect.