Saturday December 25, 6:16 p.m.



And a Merry Xmas to you all. I've been back in Toronto for the past 10 days and I have still yet to reach the halfway point of my long vacation...that's how long my trip is this time.

As you can see, this is the City Hall skating rink, one of the most familiar local sights during this time of year in Canada's largest city.

For me, it's been the usual round of meeting friends and family. I'm currently waiting for the turkey to finally get done at my brother's place. Apparently, the oven thermometer isn't working too well so my brother and sister-in-law have been pacing around the oven for the past several minutes.

I've done my fair share of local noshing over the past 10 days here. I've met folks like The Anime King, The Egg, Shard and Automan for lunch and dinner. And I've had my Mexican, my Quebecois (poutine) and Chinese. Toronto is definitely a foodie's paradise. I even had a chance to meet up with Mr. TOEFL last week during his time here. Took him to The Madison Ave. Pub, my old haunt. He definitely enjoyed the wings there, and he's certainly a lot more cleaner with his eating than I am.

The weather's been pretty cold although not frigidly so. It's at about a reasonable -7 C and there is snow on the ground, so we did get our White Christmas.

Wednesday December 15, 4:33 p.m.

Well, I guess it had to be my turn in the Airport of Fate. It happens to all air travelers once in a while. I got delayed. I arrived at Narita in plenty of time to find out that my flight will be 2 hours late getting underway. And then, the lady who took care of my booking sheepishly told me that the reservation computers crashed. Not sure how the other passengers took the news but I know a bit about these things can happen so I didn't give her any hassle. In return, I got a food voucher for 1,000 yen so I took advantage and enjoyed lunch at the Fujiya's in the mall. I kinda wonder if this is a prelude to a bad flight. Glad I brought the meds with me.

Still after I returned to the counter, the ladies there very cheerfully escorted me over to the young lady who had taken good care of me and finally got me squared away. And I've just told my brother that I'll be a couple of hours late arriving at Pearson. But you never know, the plane might just catch a good tailwind.

Tuesday December 14, 4:28 p.m.

Had my last lessons at the old Speedy's last night....yup, old Speedy's. When I next set foot in my Nakano-Sakaue school in January, it'll be in the new school around the corner...and next door to a very appealing bakery; that should really screw up any attempts to start losing that Holiday flab. Had my trio of Miss Genki, Kirk and The Medicine Man. All of them went smoothly although I was feeling pretty tired by the end. I'd been up since 5 a.m. Monday morning. Miss Genki told me in her lesson that she'd treated herself to a luxurious trip to a hot spring in Hakone over the weekend thanks to her semi-annual bonus. Must be nice to be able to do that. Unfortunately, Speedy's is nowhere near that sort of profitability, and I think the bossman would have to think very long and hard before instituting that policy.

This morning was my last session with The Beehive for 2010 in Tsudanuma. It was the gathering of all of the vets who had first met me all the way back in 1998: Travel, Tee, Jade, Alp and Buckingham. Of course, being the final one before The Holidays meant that there was a small lunch in store. Unfortunately, Jade had to pull out at the last minute since she was suffering from dental problems. We walked all the way down to what used to be our old haunt at the Ace Lanes Bowling Alley and beyond until we reached Chez Como, a French restaurant that we'd visited once before several years ago at Ms. Tulip's suggestion. The food there was indeed excellent although I will definitely be grabbing something for dinner between Mr. White and The Milds later on.

I've pretty much finished my Xmas shopping and just have to start packing the suitcase when I get home tonight. I'm fairly confident that I will get things done before I hit the hay at about 1 a.m. And then I just have to have breakfast, clean things up in the apartment and do a final check of luggage before heading on out to Narita.

I do have to say that I did finally catch the pilot episode of "NCIS: LA" over the weekend. Yep, it is quite different in tone from its parent show, "NCIS", much in the same way that "NCIS" was different from its parent show, "JAG". As Chris O'Donnell points out, there are no clones of any of the "NCIS" characters within the LA characters. And it doesn't hurt when you have an Oscar winner in the form of Linda Hunt as the operations manager.

Sunday December 12, 3:04 p.m.

Yup, I'm actually writing this over at Speedy's. Of course, noone else is here except for me, but I had to get a copy of a test for Cozy and some exercise sheets for Kirk tomorrow night. Should be on my way home in about 5 minutes.

I'm really into the final days before The Great White North. Still haven't completed the Xmas shopping, but then again I'm never done until the last minute anyways, so it's business-as-usual. Woke up early to get over for my last lesson with Yajima for the year. He had just come back from his first business trip to Germany. It was fairly arduous for him since he was stuck on a plane for 12 hours and then it was basically a city a day for him. He was quite happy to be back in relatively warm Tokyo since Germany was definitely in the grips of a snowy start to Winter. It was a pretty easy groove with him today.

Then I had to do my final poke into Tower Records in Shibuya. Of course, the place was packed with the young of Tokyo. Couldn't find anything that would be appealing to the parents in terms of DVDs so I just used the final points of my point card to grab reading material for the flight home at a hugely discounted price. This is probably one of the last places on Earth that a point card for a CD shop still exists.

Anyways, gotta get home and get some washing and ironing done. It'll probably be spam night tonight for dinner....something simple and delicious with rice. Also, Mom will be calling to make final confirmations before I get back. I was happy to get the last of the nengajo done last night.

Well, tomorrow's the final classes at Speedy's for the year. It'll be a busy one...got about 5 or 6 lessons on tap.

Saturday December 11, 2:31 p.m.

Officially, I finished my final Saturday shift here at Speedy's. It'll be sad to no longer see Mrs. Prissy and The Publicity Assistant but I will appreciate feeling like I can actually get days off fairly regularly. The ladies were kind to get me some parting gifts.

I got a late request from Ol' Sam's wife for a kid's textbook. Shouldn't be much of a problem since I have to drop by Kinokuniya one more time on Monday before the trip home.

Saturday December 11, 12:37 p.m.

And a Happy Birthday to Mom out there.

Met Ms. Viva for the 2nd time in our foodie buddy outing series yesterday in the Tokyo Dome area. Last time, it was Foo Foo; this time, it was Bubba Gump for some pure Americana.

Didn't have the famed shrimps, but I did enjoy the fish n' chips. Bubba Gump is quite a bit more generous in the pieces of fish, and they were surprisingly juicy. Viva had her Seafood Special. But the two of us had to share the Alabama Mud Pie. I actually had to measure the height to make sure that we were indeed eating someting that was 14 cm high. With all that we ate, I didn't have to touch food again for the rest of the evening.

Which was just as well since I was pretty much on the run for the rest of the evening. Had Mr. Swank for his final lesson of the year. It turned out that I didn't need to help him with his speech for his business trip to Vietnam next week since the organizer had apparently found a Japanese interpreter. Still, there was plenty of stuff on the plate to keep the lesson filled and entertaining. I lent him my DVD set of "Star Trek" time travel episodes.

Ran over to Urayasu to teach The Journo. He was also very entertaining. He's quite the raconteur of his adventures in places like Chile and New Orleans. And of course, he kept me informed of the trials and tribulations of Japan's currently most idiotic kabuki actor, Ebizo Ichikawa. Not surprisingly, The Journo was very leery of Ichikawa's somewhat vague and zombie-like delivery.

Also had my final lesson with The Restauranteur. Very nice way to finish my Fridays for the year.

Tuesday December 7, 4:35 p.m.

I just saw that Toronto newscasting legend, Mark Dailey, died last night from cancer. Ah, man...at 57 years of age, way too young. I always liked his stentorian baritone delivery, and for all intents and purposes, he was the voice of City-TV.

It's kinda penultimate day professionally speaking. I had my second-last session with The Beehive this morning and then I've got my second-last sessions with Mr. White and The Milds later today. The juku boss has been wondering aloud of actually getting serious with her English studies, so I showed her a copy of the text that I'd been using with folks like Mr. White and Cozy for the past year. That copy was Book 1 of World Link; she said that it looked kinda easy. I kept my tongue firmly in place....my opinion is that she'll need that book just to strengthen her all-over-the-place structure, but I compromised by saying that will bring over the aptitude test for her to try before any text is decided upon.

Last night, over at Speedy's, I had my first official class with Kirk. It was a good session; we had a hearty talk on Japanese politics. There was no copy of his designated text other than the staff copy. I rolled my eyes at this slight and just gave Kirk that copy. Of course, when I told the bossman, he kinda mewled that he had needed it for his class this morning. Well, Kirk has been signed up for that text for over a week. Why hadn't a proper text come for him within those 7 days? Sometimes, I just want to kick him. However, basically, I had to race home, take my own copy of the text, make copies at the nearest conbini, race home and then try to fax A3 sheets through my own A4 faxphone. Not surprisingly, I got a message from him this morning that the faxes didn't come out too well. Well, I tried. In any case, I would like to give him my suggestion but I'm afraid that he will treat this like a Kennedy-Nixon debate and give a voluminous rebuttal.

Monday December 6, 6:00 p.m.

Yep, the pictures say it all...I'm gonna be geeky in this entry.

"Farewell, Mother Earth...."

I think anyone who grew up in the late 70s and early 80s in North America know about "Star Blazers", aka "Space Battleship Yamato". A lot of my classmates and I in junior high school ran home daily to catch the latest episode of one of the most beloved serial anime anywhere and of all time, especially when the ship fired the almighty awe-inspiring Wave Motion Gun at the dastardly Gamelans. And of course, the theme song by Isao Sasaki always got us otaku and geek on goosebumps so big that we actually gained height. And I'm sure all of us wondered if there would ever be a live-action version of it.

Well, wonder no more. On December 1, the live-action version finally premiered everywhere in Japan. And I finally caught it at Roppongi Hills this afternoon after my lesson with Swank. You might say it was the "Ocean's Eleven" of Japanese sci-fi, although I liked the comment made by one other blogger who mentioned that this was the first example of live-action Japanimation that actually starred real Japanese (well, not really...there was "Casshern"). However, getting back to my "Ocean's 11" analogy, "Space Battleship Yamato" stars pretty much everyone familiar on Japanese TV. Of course, there is Takuya Kimura from SMAP as angry Acting Captain Susumu Kodai, Meisa Kuroki from tons of commercials and dramas as a kick-butting and brooding Yuki Mori, Toshiro Yanagiba from "Odoru Dai Sosasen" as the stalwart Chief Science Officer Shiro Sanada and Tsutomu Yamazaki as the crusty but doomed Captain Juzo Okita.

Well, what did I think? Y'know...taking into consideration the local industry, the budget and the acting in a typical Japanese production, the live version of "Yamato" probably is as good as it gets over here. No, I guess my comment is a bit backhanded but really, it wasn't a bad adaptation. The effects were indeed pretty top notch...although from seeing them, you can't help but get reminded of "Independence Day", last year's "Star Trek" and the new "Battlestar Galactica"; but heck, I'll take that over the cruddy SFX in "Star Trek V" any century. Especially in the first few minutes, and when the Yamato fired the Wave Motion Gun for the first time, I have to admit that I did get those old goosebumps going on all cylinders again.

As for the story, this was a rather long movie...going to 2.5 hours but it did go fast. I was surprised that that much time had elapsed when I looked at my watch at the end of the movie. It just seemed to be an amalgam of the first two anime movies more than a true reboot. All I will say beyond that is that it's very unlikely that there will be a sequel. However, the producers and director did a commendable job of trying to fit certain scenes and have a bit of acting meat for all of the performers.

And speaking of the acting....well, it is typical Japanese TV acting: overly melodramatic and screaming. Never accuse a Japanese production of Oscar-baiting ambitions. Ironically, Takuya Kimura was perfect as Susumu Kodai since the original character was an angry young man, and KimuTaku is the go-to guy for angry young men roles. Having seen my share of J-dorama, I still had to wince at a few scenes since, for supposed settings of gunmetal gray, I could see a lot of brown oak being spat out. However, I really did enjoy Yamazaki's rendition of Captain Okita and there was one scene in which he played it for comedic effect.

The music? There were hints and one half-rendition of the legendary theme but "Star Blazers" and "Yamato" fans may have left a bit disappointed that the orchestra didn't unleash a full version. My eyes were still a-poppin' that Aerosmith's Steve Tyler consented to his very first solo for "Love Lives". The score basically served the story dutifully rather than come up with various themes.

For me, the highlight scenes were, of course, the ones showing The Wave Motion Gun and the other weapons firing on full, and one that could probably have the otaku Stateside applauding with a cameo by Analyzer (IQ9 in "Star Blazers") in Terminator mode. And there were even a few scenes which had me lumping up...a bit.

In the relevant Mixi community, I saw that a lot of the members were raving about the movie. I can't say that I am one of them. It's pretty much along the lines on how The Publicity Assistant stated it. "Space Battleship Yamato" isn't great but it isn't horrible.

Sunday December 5, 11:52 a.m.

Well, as half-expected, it was a bit of a misunderstanding in that message I got from Ray yesterday. She was actually asking about last night's Speedy party when she was asking whether I would be showing up. Of course, I did not. However, she was asking whether La Fille and I can be available for lunch sometime before I head on out.

Last night, instead of heading out to a party that I wouldn't have enjoyed and would have lost 5,500 yen for, I just went home and enjoyed a nice small dinner of fried chicken, rice and salad. And just spent the night reading, listening to Xmas music and writing some more New Year's cards...in other words, it was bliss.

I came to the I-Cafe and got some stuff done for AK and Cozy. Now, I'll be heading on out to get some Xmas shopping done since I'm in my final full week before home.

Saturday December 4, 3:48 p.m.

Man, what a day! I made it halfway on my commute to Speedy's when I realized that I'd left the textbook for the first model lesson back home. I got into "24" mode and made it Jack-style back home after leaving a frantic message on the bossman's machine. I managed to finally get back to the school with 20 minutes to spare before show time. And luckily enough, the model lesson went swimmingly. She's signed up and will actually be having her first class with the bossman and will probably be seeing me in January. She'll be Miss X-Ray since she is an X-ray engineer.

The following two lessons went well although The Intellectual got a bit of a shock when I told him that I wouldn't be able to teach him anymore past December. I think I should've told him a bit earlier.

Strangely enough, Ray is still willing to meet me tomorrow for Tony Roma's even though no one else can come. So, after my stint at the I-Cafe tomorrow, it'll be downtown, get some Xmas shopping done and then meet up with the lass in Roppongi. I won't mention anything about my recent conflicts with Miss Efficiency but if she asks about her....

Friday December 3, 8:03 p.m.

When I woke up this morning, it sounded and it looked like the deluge that launched Noah's Ark out there. I don't think I've ever seen that much rain hit the dirt that quickly and that intensely since a 1995 typhoon. I'd thought that my chances of seeing The Bass were going to be severely hampered. However, by the time I got out of the apartment 90 minutes later, it was sunny and warm...as if Canada had lent us Indian Summer. I don't think I've ever seen that type of meterological switchblade snapback in this country.

It got up to about 21 C today...I had to remind myself that this was early December. Even at this latitude, having the temps reach early summer levels at this time of year was pretty darn unusual. And although the floods subsided, the winds were smashing bicycles and anything not lashed down on the streets. When I got out of Urayasu Station tonight, I was lucky in that as soon as I got out of the ticket gates, the Tozai Line promptly stopped service due to the winds. The line for taxis was reaching Krispy Kreme proportions. Hopefully, the subway will be back online by the time I finish my lessons at the juku tonight.

I was able to teach The Bass over at the Funabashi cafe. Looks like he's been having his usual mellow time with practicing with his band and taking care of his drum business. After my lesson today, I won't be seeing him until late January. Getting over to Speedy's, I had The Shareholder. He was a bit more sluggish today but nothing too surprising. Then I got over to West Shinjuku to teach Mr. Swank. He was as jolly as ever and we had a great time discussing about watching 2009's "Star Trek" again. I have one more lesson with him before the Holidays begin for me.

Once I escaped Urayasu Station, I walked through the gales to The Restauranteur's place. It was atypically bustling tonight, and I went for the most expensive item on the menu, which was the Veal Fillet in Mushroom Sauce. I did promise her that I would have it before I went back to Canada, and I gladly fulfilled my promise and filled myself up with some really tender meat. The Restauranteur was quite surprised by my order.

Anyways, as the winds are still whistling out there, I have to get one more sheet made up for The Restauranteur's lesson later. Yep, once again, The Journo has canned his lesson tonight and his lesson for next week. I take it that the Ebizo Ichikawa nonsense on TV has been keeping him busy. He was reporting on it yesterday.

Friday December 3, 7:24 p.m.

It's been a slightly tumultuous time at Speedy's. I had my 2nd spat with Miss Efficiency in as many days yesterday. On Wednesday, it was about the fact that she objected to my not attending the Xmas party. Yesterday, it was just the two of us in the office when she started her usual haranguing about the bossman and the state of the company. I was in agreement with a number of her issues but then when I tried to sympathize about the fact that she was having a tough time in the office, she unleashed an accusation that I was trying to get rid of her, which took me aback. I tried to explain that that was not my intention but she wasn't hearing anything of it from me, and so the temperature chilled rather suddenly in the office. And I don't think anything has changed today.

I was also slightly disturbed by a couple of statements that she spat out like verbal diarrhea. She said that she didn't trust a single soul; just herself. And then she spoke on her "friend" who she slightly denigrated by complaining that she always tried to change the environment and just listened when Efficiency started getting sore. A friendship without fighting is a fake friendship, she said. Although I know that friendships have their ups and downs, I think Efficiency's level of acceptable battling is much higher than most people would like in their relationships. From some other stuff she mentioned in her diatribe, this is one lady who has Issues.

After that rather tense discussion, I decided to leave the office since I had to teach The New Yorker in Shinjuku. And though I would like to give her a benefit of a doubt, I'm gonna increase the distance between her and me. At least, she and I apparently can still interact professionally since we did talk about work amicably enough.

But the last couple of days has taught me that Speedy may be right in that Miss Efficiency is not helping things by openly shrieking her grievances at anyone who may be in the room. The bossman has his faults but she is bringing morale down. And I discovered that I was starting to harangue like her when I got caught up in her discussion.

Thursday December 2, 8:20 a.m.

Nice crisp Autumn day out there...yes, I do realize we're in December but we're also officially still in Fall.

With the help of Shard, my old friend in Toronto, I was able to secure my very first appointment with a massage therapy clinic when I get back to the ol' hometown. I've had the shiatsu massages here in Japan before although my last visit to a kori toru clinic was several years ago (just didn't think that they were too effective anymore). Over the years via YouTube and several books that I'd bought, I've seen the Swedish version and have always wanted to experience that at least once. Perhaps, Shard's friend can finally reach those knots and untie them. Perhaps I may actually become a new man.

A bit of a Donut Day, as Thursdays often have been, for me. I've just got The Patent Attorney in a few minutes and then some hours later, it'll be The New Yorker and a couple of hours after her, it'll be The German, Mrs. Thursday and The Music Man. I'm sure Mrs. Thursday will have some insights about the second-last episode of "NCIS"'s 6th season.

Wednesday December 1, 8:04 p.m.

Saw 001 for the first time in a few weeks. She'd had a grand ol' time at the Arashi concert on the 19th and so a lot of the lesson revolved around that. But we did have some time to try a mini-TOEIC quiz. She'll be heading for the Honolulu Marathon next week with 002. She's got quite the schedule.

"Space Battleship Yamato" started up today in theatres nationwide. Kinda wonder how the tickets are selling. I still can't believe that Steven Tyler was convinced to give his very first solo song as the romantic theme for the movie. Maybe he was a "Star Blazers" fan 30 years ago.

Anyways, I've got Miss Sony in about 20 minutes.

Wednesday December 1, 5:38 p.m.

La Fille called in just now to say that she won't be coming in tonight since she's got a rather bad cold. Looks like the probability of that Sunday outing to Tony Roma's is getting lower and lower. I got word from Miss London that she can't make it on Sunday and my shot-in-the-dark choice of Skippy turned out to be just that. Well, I'll ask La Fille...if she can come in tomorrow...and if she says no, I'll send over my regrets to Ray and ask if she would like to re-schedule.

In any case, I'll have 001 in about 10 minutes. I haven't seen her in a few weeks, so most likely we'll be talking about her Arashi concert at Tokyo Dome last week. But she did request about TOEIC so I'll get something ready for that as well.

I'm just kinda wondering if all of us are in desperate need of some R & R.

Wednesday December 1, 5:09 p.m.

It was good that I had The Overachiever for the hour just now. While I was teaching the lesson, it did give me time to reflect a bit on what had happened between Ms. Efficiency and me a couple of hours ago. Basically after The Overachiever had left, I apologized for snapping at her and she took it gracefully. Neither of us apologized for our opinions however, so I am still staying away from the Xmas party this Saturday.

The Overachiever was his usual great self...he can carry on the class all by himself. I think the stress levels would've been much tougher for me if it had been someone like The New Yorker or The Medicine Man.

Still not feeling all that great right now despite the mea culpa. But at least I know I still have a nasty temper.

Wednesday December 1, 3:34 p.m.

Well, I guess it had to happen sometime. Miss Efficiency has gotten into arguments with Speedy and I witnessed one between her and Ms. Schmooze. Now, I'm just doing a bit of simmering after a brief exchange with her concerning the party. I said that I wouldn't go since I don't generally enjoy parties anymore; unfortunately, I also mentioned the fact that there were two ladies whose company I don't enjoy. Miss Efficiency kept saying that she wasn't pushing the issue but she was. And finally after 5 minutes of back and forth, I just snapped at her that I no longer appreciated talking on the issue and wish that she would back down. She has and there is a lingering frigidity in the atmosphere right now. Miss Efficiency is definitely the first of her kind that we've had here.

However, before things exploded, she had told me that Kirk has officially signed up as a student and would be starting next Monday.

I really don't like to lose my temper although I rarely do. And I don't feel too good about it right now. However, I don't feel much like apologizing to her.

Tuesday November 30, 7:26 p.m.

The Ace came by as promised about an hour ago. It had been about 8 months since he last set foot in the juku. He has always come across as being a shoshoku ningen or herbivore, probably one of the few words that will get the prize of Catchphrase of the Year in a couple of weeks, but he is also a true gentleman. He dropped by bearing a gift in the form of some rather expensive cheesecakes...and this only for a half-hour visit just to say that he would like to come back into the fold in another 5 months.

There have been a few changes in his life during those 8 months. He has, of course, been continuing his education in helping the disabled and will be working next year in a special centre nearby. But, unfortunately, he has broken up with his longtime girlfriend. He also said that he gained a few kilos...I can't really see it myself but I'll take his word for it. However, he said that he will be rejoining my lessons from the Spring.

I've come to enjoy having people over for visits whether it be in the form of lessons such as I have at the juku weekly or a purely social event such as The Ace dropping by after a period of several months. I frankly like those much better than I do full-fledged parties.

Speaking of which, that little trip to Tony Roma's on Sunday may face cancellation since it seems like Ray and I are the only ones that can go. I sent quick word to Skippy but not surprisingly, she already has plans.

I've got The Milds coming over. Mrs. Mild has come back from her trip to France so I gather that the bulk of today's hour will be spent on poring over digital photos and talking about her trip to La Belle Pays. I'm sure that won't bother my students at all.

Tomorrow, the last of 2 packages for The Anime King will be landing on my footstep in the morning, so I may have to stay at home up until noon. I'd been thinking somewhat faintly about watching "Space Battleship Yamato" since Dec. 1 is the release date. But I can catch that anytime this week....and frankly I'm also waiting for the reviews from actual viewers.

Tuesday November 30, 4:31 p.m.

Tomorrow is December, eh? Oooh, boy. It's been a fast year. Well, it's appropriately chilly out there, and I hear that my ol' hometown got its first official snow in the last couple of days.

I had what could be considered by newest student at Speedy's. I think I'll call him Kirk. He's quite a fluent fellow and likes to talk about stuff on the international front as well as about other news-related items. But his delivery is interestingly disjointed....just like a certain Star Trek legend. Anyways, he could start as early as next week.

Met up with The Beehive for the first time in 3 weeks. It kinda felt like a vacation. Mrs. Jade had a touch of laryngitis, but otherwise the three other ladies: Travel, Tee and Alp were in good form. Actually, we didn't talk about the Korean situation but instead got onto a local topic: another celeb getting into trouble. A so-called genius kabuki actor by the name of Ebizo got his bare face reshaped into putty by three punks. Before you start feeling sorry for the guy, though, Ebizo was majorly barhopping himself into a drunken stupor (this on the eve of a major news conference) and ended up at his final bar and got chatty with those chinpira. Of course, the punks were also not too sober, and so one thing led to another, which included the actor smacking the lead punk's head into the counter and pouring whiskey on him. And obviously, the three took rather big exception to that and teaching him a rather major lesson. His relatively new wife had a major panic attack and called the police. Now Ebizo has ended up causing the cancellation of a major annual performance in Kyoto over the Holidays, and I'm sure the idiot will be making his prostrations to the flashbulbs of the media in the coming weeks. I wonder if all that training to become a kabuki actor will now include classes on maturity.

Monday November 29, 6:57 p.m.

"Don't call me Shirley".

That one line turned a character actor's career right around. Good ol' Leslie Nielsen passed away. Another Canadian goes to that Great White North in the sky.

Since I was born in the mid-60s, I knew Leslie Nielsen originally as one of those actors who popped up on just about every TV show that had been broadcast in the States...but in absolutely dramatic roles, whether it be "MASH" or "The Fugitive". But then when "Airplane" came out in 1980, a comedic hero was born.

Nielsen, as Dr. Rumack, came out and just slew everyone with his deadpan delivery, born of years as the straight man, and his hilarious asides including the one up above which opens this entry. Then a few years later, he cemented his newfound status as comedian by portraying the role that he would be forever known, Lt. Frank Drebin, in the original TV series of "Police Squad". The show only lasted 6 episodes, but an insane program like that one couldn't last too long. So, next came "The Naked Gun" several years later which I remember watching on the big screen. The laughter just poured out of us nonstop, as I remember. Regrettably, Leslie Nielsen couldn't really lasso his career into any more different directions and basically nullified any lasting effect by playing the same type of character in other parodies.

Still, he will be known as the character actor who didn't end up fading away in the 70s but ended up making us laugh right up to nearly the end of the century.