It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Wednesday April 4, 11:57 a.m.

Yes, it's that time of year when all Canadians seriously talk about a topic that is enormously near and dear to our hearts on a day that is sunny but still retains that not unappealing tang of chill in the air. Right now, folks across The Great White North are glued to their I-Phones, tablets and even those ancient devices known as television sets to glean as much information as they can about the day's proceedings.

Yes, it's the NHL Trading Deadline Day...

Right from 8 a.m. EDT, TSN and Sportscentre started their days with various sportscasters, former NHL players and former NHL general managers gabbing away about what trades have been done and what trades may be pulled off in the next several hours. I think in Toronto today, people are quite smitten not only to find out if the Leafs are able to grab a veteran playoff-seasoned goalie from either Calgary or Vancouver, but also just to forget the lousy results to the Blue Jays home opener last night (Mr. Arencibia, how does it feel to be the first one in the doghouse this year? Nope, not fair....he was on the receiving end of Dickey knucklers[trying not to giggle here]).

Last year, I caught my first experience of the big day and wasn't all that impressed since not all that much happened. But I've realized from all the tweets coming in on the screen that folks are just happy to see and hear the talking heads talking about trades; any trades that do come in are icing on the cake. And if that one blockbuster trade comes in? Manna from Heaven!

Soggy Start

Monday March 11, 12:09 pm

Well, pretty wet and gloomy out there, but at least it's warmer. However, the weather folks are saying that the minus temperatures are still gonna plague us later this week. The snow is melting, though, which is revealing a lot of stuff that the dogs left behind. There is also a dead raccoon nearby which the killer car driver deposited on the curb. I'm now considering calling Animal Services.

Not a great sports weekend for Canada or Toronto. The Leafs were squeaked out of a win by the Penguins on Saturday...the Buds did show heart but just couldn't beat Crosby or Malkin. And of course, there was that kerfuffle with Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic against Team Mexico; there has been some back-&-forth since then with the Blue Jays' Jose Bautista putting in his two nickels by scolding Canada for trying to run up the score. And then Canada had to go home with their tails between their legs after collapsing against the USA yesterday. However, Toronto FC did provide a glimmer of good news by winning its first game since last July.

Still waiting for my regular translation assignment from the company; apparently, things are a bit slow in Japan today. But today is the 2nd anniversary of the big Tohoku Earthquake/Tsunami, so I'm sure people are being quite reflective. I'm finding the media coverage quite interesting depending on the country. Of course, NHK and probably the commercial networks in Japan have been providing very somber and wistful programs about 3/11, and NHK was visiting a lot of individuals in the affected areas to get their impressions and reminiscences, but very little has been shown about the progress of the cleanup. On the other hand, CNN and BBC have been focusing on that aspect of the disaster aftermath, and showing that after 2 years, not much has been done. It was the first time in several months that I've seen anything on the Fukushima nuclear reactor disaster still in progress, and that was through BBC only. The reporter for the British network remarked that in a society where consensus-building is often still paramount, there has been little consensus built about how to fix something this enormous which would explain the delay. I think the Japanese media's take on it is that the ramifications will simply not go away for decades, so it's sho ga nai...let's work on the emotional healing and getting people to regain their energy and confidence to work around the difficulties while the upper echelons deal (or try to deal) with them directly. NHK's report did pick up on one angle and that was whether the memories of the disaster have started to fade; apparently, corporate and perhaps private contributions to the quake-affected areas have fallen by a huge margin, and the weekly protests in front of Parliament against nuclear power have also shrunk (although there was a huge parade in downtown Tokyo yesterday). I think the fading is a natural thing and is part of the healing process, but I was surprised at how quickly the fade has been in the country itself. But at the same time, the national TV network has been keeping up its end of the bargain by broadcasting a lot of programming on the situation over the months.

Goodbye, Penny

Monday February 4, 3:57 p.m.

I've noticed that someone has been looking at my March 30 article (under the same Labels) for the retirement of the Canadian Penny. Wow! I didn't realize it's been almost a year since the government made the momentous announcement about the enforced disappearance of the copper coin. Well, the day has arrived. From today, the 1-cent coin is officially done (1908-2013).

Since I've been pretty good about paying exact change for just about everything for the past several years, I haven't had too much in the way of loose change, so this morning, when I checked, I only had four pennies left in my coin cup. So, they have now been put into the desk drawer for posterity. Basically, when we Canucks head off to the stores, the new rule is that the price will be rounded up or down, and that the lowest coin to be accepted is the nickel. But that all depends on the customer/cashier. If the customer puts up a fight about it, I think the cashier will most likely take pennies still.

Strangely enough, though, the 1-yen coin is still very much in circulation, despite the fact that it feels lighter than a TTC token and seems to be made by very malleable aluminium. And 1 yen certainly doesn't buy anything at all. Maybe it might be time for PM Abe to start thinking about that for his Abenomics plan.

From Coast to Coast, It's Back!

Saturday January 19, 7:37 p.m.

Well, the countdown is over.....professional hockey is back on the map as of today. I saw a bit of the Winnipeg-Ottawa game earlier this afternoon...."Hockey Night in Canada" will basically be taking over the entire CBC schedule for the rest of the day and night. It started at about 3 p.m. today, and except for a dinner break of 30 minutes, HNIC will have a total of over 12 hours of broadcast. Talk about engorging desperately starving hockey fans! Right now, the Habs-Leafs game is on in Montreal, but I'm keeping things closed off for now (although I did catch the Olympic-like torch passing amongst the former captains of the Canadiens, and about a few seconds of the actual game), since I will have Mr. Moriya in about 20 minutes for his very first lesson of the year. And I need some down time to get myself prepared for it. I'm sure there will be a bit more free talk in the first several minutes of the lesson since it's been a month since our last lesson, and he and his wife had gone off for a week in Taiwan.

Speaking of Taiwan, The Anime King should be back in town after almost a month of traveling in Japan, Taiwan and Vietnam. He should have quite a few tall tales to tell since he was hinting as much in his e-mails from Asia. He did go off to the small town of Oarai, Ibaraki Prefecture since the anime "Girls And Panzers"takes place there. The Anglerfish Dance has become a small phenomenon of note for a small segment of YouTube watchers although Psy won't have to worry too much about being usurped. I should be seeing him tomorrow since he did say that he will make himself available for the first Anime-And-Foodie outing of 2013; apparently, jet lag doesn't affect him at all. I also sent out a mass e-mail to the rest of the Anime Court but only The Iconoclast has even acknowledged reading it, although he said to keep him informed of developments. Don't know what's gonna happen for sure but The King should be calling me after my lesson with my student.

Much of the day before dinner was spent on that mammoth translation assignment....not finished by any stretch of the imagination but I am over the halfway point, and I did make a lot of progress. Still, I'll be taking the day off tomorrow before getting back to the grindstone on Monday.

Anyways, maybe I'll check the telly and see if Randy Carlyle's "Defence First"philosophy is finally rubbing off on the Leafs.

Anxieties Everywhere

Thursday January 17, 9:36 a.m.

The latest translation is coming along slowly but steadily. However, I'm not a huge fan of TRADOS or at least the learning curve for me seems to be a right angle. I tried to send over a sample file to the boss only to be told that the file didn't have any translation along with the source. Well, I have 16 hours of solid work to prove that I was working on it! Something similar happened to me when I did my first translation on the software, so using another trick, it was able to pull through. I'm hoping that the same thing did the trick this time. In any case, the deadline for this one seems to be rather distant and amorphous so neither the boss nor I are particularly in panic mode. But I'm still unsure.

Japan has been having to deal with a couple of crises in the last few days. The new old Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, would only have had to deal with the usual economic woes infiltrating his country if these situations hadn't happened. But both ANA and JAL have grounded their Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleets like itinerant teens since the batteries on some of the planes have been turning into (smoke) bombs at the very least. Of course, Boeing stock has been going boing at the news....and that is in the bad way. And then there is the ongoing hostage incident in Algeria in which some Japanese nationals have also been taken, although I may have heard that some of them have been released.

Buried within all that is the 18th anniversary of the Kobe Earthquake. Some events will always be remembered....the people in Kobe and the surrounding region certainly haven't forgotten. And as someone who had felt a fraction of the Tohoku Earthquake a couple of years ago in Tokyo (and that fraction was enough to sear itself into my memory forever), I can attest to that.

At the end of this, I also have to mention that Conrad Bain from "Diff'rent Strokes" has passed away. To be honest, I hadn't heard anything about him for years so that I thought he had already left this mortal coil, but he was able to live a good long life. I had no idea that he was actually born in Lethbridge, Alberta. I used to watch the show with him, Gary Coleman, Dana Plato and Todd Bridges on Thursday or Friday on NBC. It's a pity that Bridges is the only surviving member now from that series.

Now that I know Bain's connection with Canada, I can understand a bit more about his brother, Hank, being brought into that old "SCTV" sketch involving the station and alien cabbages.

The Trouble with Tracy

Yesterday I was reading MacLean Magazine's Book of Lists in the local library, when I came across one such list covering the worst in Canadian sitcoms. Frankly speaking, I thought the title a bit redundant. "SCTV", on the other hand, was one of the best shows but that was never a sitcom. And I never caught onto "Little Mosque on the Prairie" or "Corner Gas". For us Canadians, it seems, humour is still an American import, the point very heavily illustrated by the fact that "The Big Bang Theory" is the No. 1 show in this country.

I saw the No. 1 listing, and it was "The Trouble With Tracy". Suddenly memories of the old CFTO logo (now CTV Toronto), Uncle Bobby and lunchtimes at home during my elementary school days flooded into the old melon. I don't recall laughing one whit at it despite the canned laughter that all but said "You are supposed to laugh now!", but I had just thought that the humour was above my age grade. Little did I know that there was apparently no humour to be had at all. All I remember was this perky blonde, her harried husband (played by the late Steve Weston who used to be on those old Labatts "Laugh-In"-like commercials) and her good-for-nothing hippie brother, living in a high-rise apartment building that looked like some of the towers that populated my old neighbourhood of St. James Town. At the time, I probably thought that Tracy and company lived just down Ontario Street or over on Bleeker.

In any case, I wouldn't mind seeing a sliver of "The Trouble with Tracy" if only to get that bit of nostalgia and that awe at seeing what adults wore back in those days.

Fortitude!

Thursday August 9, 10:05 a.m.

Well, Canada's Women's Soccer Team got its medal, scoring the lone goal in extra time at the very end of the Bronze Medal match over France! For some reason, the media has been saying that this was redemption for the controversial loss against the United States in the semi-finals. I don't think redemption is quite the accurate word since Canada did nothing wrong to redeem itself for. I'd say that this was more fortitude on Sinclair and company. In any case, the two countries I'm most familiar with will be represented on the podium later today.

Speaking of fortitude, PM Noda of Japan will have to reach deep down for that inner strength since he may be facing his biggest test in his role as the leader of the country. He's facing a non-confidence motion from the opposition, and two more of his party will be defecting. Most probably, the motion will be defeated but it's still a matter of dying from a thousand paper cuts.

Ah, Japan did quite well at the Olympics yesterday as well. Two of the women wrestlers got their Gold medals. It looks like both Japan and Canada will reach their expectations.

Doing Good, Canada!

Saturday August 4, 11:25 p.m.

Canada didn't do much yesterday at the London Games, but boy, did they make up for that today. 1 Bronze, 1 Silver...and finally our first Gold...thanks to Women's Trampoline. How must Rosie MacClennan feel right now....instant sports heroine.

It was another scorcher in the GTA....Humidex of 42 degrees or so. Luckily, I stayed inside for the entire day, but I've got a fan blowing in my room right now. I don't think things will change all that much for the weekend.

The folks at Caribana must have been sweating up a storm of perspiration all day downtown. There is a similar if far smaller event in Tokyo called the Samba Festival. It's always held in the traditional quarter of Asakusa, strangely enough, during August. Not surprisingly, a lot of men of all ages take tons of pictures of the scantily-clad women as they traipse down the streets. Still, I'm pretty sure that those dancers aren't nearly as bold as a lot of the Caribana folks.

My Kingdom for a Barber

Friday August 3, 10:58 p.m.

Went to my corner barber for that $8 trim. The guy got it done in less than 10 minutes. Still, after having gone there 4 times since my return back to Canada, I'm now wondering if I should opt for something a bit more expensive, a bit more farther away, but with a bit more class. I went into the shop and just saw one....barber....just splayed all over the waiting area chairs like my Dad on the sofa on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Didn't look one bit sheepish either. For $8, I don't expect   Royal service but man, that just wasn't right. I didn't understand the language they were speaking, but the splayed girl probably said to the guy who ended up with my cut, "Hey, it's your turn!"

I didn't get particularly nostalgic for my trips to the barber during my long years in Japan, but I have to say that the service was absolutely top-notch. Despite paying the yen equivalent of $50 each time, I got a great cut, shampoo (twice), head and neck massage, coffee/tea (hot/cold depending on the season) and some good conversation. I actually looked forward to my bi-monthly tonsorials despite the certainty of a lighter wallet. I haven't had the same feelings with my current shop.

Here is a 40-minute video of a visit to a Japanese barber. The barber does everything but the head and shoulder massage which was a bit of a surprise to me.

And this is an excerpt of one other visit to a barber during the scalp-and-shoulder rubdown.

Enjoy!

I Feel A Draft

courtesy of letalbostaalkinsby
from Flickr

Friday June 22, 8:48 p.m.

Well, they could take me out of Canada for a couple of decades, but they couldn't take the Canada out of me, boy. Friday night, and I'm watching the annual NHL Draft from Pittsburgh. Not exactly on tenterhooks to see which kids are being pulled in by whatever NHL club, but I was curious to see who the Toronto Maple Leafs would select with their pick. Well, welcome to the team, Morgan Rielly! Hope you survive!

For me, it isn't so much who's picked in the draft. Rather, it's what happens on the side. I kinda see the draft as a bit of a Jenga game. Take this kid and then see how the other teams react via trades. And sure enough, the Islanders and Penguins did some of their own pulling of pieces to jockey for good picks.

Now, we can truly take a vacation from ice hockey....for 2 months, that is.

Got Their Men...and Woman

courtesy of Sublight Monster
from Flickr

Monday June 4, 9:48 p.m.

After a week of horror, the cops finally caught the criminals:

Luka Magnotta, the Body Parts murderer
Christopher Husbands, the Eaton Centre shooter

Naoko Kikuchi

For those in Toronto and Canada, the first two names should be fairly familiar by this time. But who is this Naoko Kikuchi? Well, she was one of the three at-large Aum Shinrikyo members who helped perpetrate the 1995 sarin attacks in the Tokyo subway system. After 17 years on the run, she was finally caught in an apartment in Sagamihara City, Kanagawa Prefecture last night. Some months earlier, one of her other compatriots, Makoto Hirata, had also been arrested, which now leaves just 54-year-old Katsuya Takahashi as the sole Aum member left on the lam. For years and years, I'd been seeing that poster with all three on subway station malls to such an extent that they looked like permanent decorations. Now it looks like the chapter may be coming to a close. As for the big guy himself, the self-proclaimed guru Shoko Asahara, he's still lingering on Death Row, years after being convicted of masterminding some of the most heinous crimes on Japanese soil.

As for Magnotta and Husbands, I'm hoping for eventual justice.

Gruesome

Thursday May 31, 3:54 p.m.

It's kinda ironic that Shemar Moore of "Criminal Minds"fame was on CP24 today. While he was schmoozing it up with the interviewer, the real versions of the FBI's Behavioural Analysis Unit are probably feverishly trying to find a suspect who would be a prime suspect on that show.

The whole thing started just a couple of days ago when staffers at Conservative Party HQ in Ottawa opened a box containing a rotting human foot. Then, a package containing a severed hand was located at a post office while a suitcase carrying a human torso was found in Montreal. All of the body parts belonged to the same victim, and the suspect is Luka Rocco Magnotta, a gay porn star and someone who has been targeted as a killer and torturer of kittens. As they say on "Criminal Minds", and the other police procedural series that have been on the airwaves for years and years, he may have "escalated". And apparently, he left a note warning that there are other body parts out there, and that he would strike again. Even scarier is that there are alleged videos of him killing and chopping up the victim who's now literally all over Ontario and Quebec, and his kitty kills.

Interpol has been brought into the case which probably means he's fled the country.

A Penny...no, A Nickel for Your Thoughts?

courtesy of Roger Cullman
of Flickr

"Penny...Penny...Penny...."

Yes, usually that would be cited as one of Sheldon Cooper's catchphrases along with "Bazinga"on "The Big Bang Theory". It will also most likely be something that every Canadian may be saying from Fall 2012 onwards. The news came out that the copper-coloured coin will no longer be made by the Canadian Mint because it costs over 50% more than it's worth. Stopping its production will save Canada $11 million a year supposedly. Not that it will be greatly missed since most people hate to scrounge for pennies that won't buy anything at all these days. By that token (no pun intended), the nickel ought to be shivering in its silver-coloured boots as well.

But it will be interesting what life will be like between vendor and vendee once a penny-less (again, no pun intended) Canada begins. What is left, and there will be a lot of used pennies moving around for a while yet, will get dirtier and dirtier or they will get thrown into a lot of wishing wells and fountains. But what's more, when that time comes when either vendor or vendee doesn't have any of the coppers, then it will be time for the Great Canadian Round-Up. Or Round-Down. It'll be like the commercial version of Rock-Paper-Scissors-Lizard-Spock!

In my localized world, I'll have to start warning any former students from Japan who ever plan to visit Toronto that there will be no pennies to make change with. They should start saving them so that they can tell their grandkids someday that there used to be orange-coloured coins in Canada.

I guess I ought to be looking for the oldest-minted penny I have and wrap it up...in my 500-yen bill that I have somewhere in my room. The 500-yen bill was long abandoned for the coin version.