Thursday April 4, 11:41 p.m.
Well, there's been a switch in tonight's fortunes with our sports teams. The Blue Jays finally won one after losing the first two games of the season to the Cleveland Indians. They pulled off a victory 10-8; so their bats were finally firing on all cylinders although the pitching was a bit off. Just down the block, the Leafs couldn't quite catch up with the Flyers, and perhaps in worse news, Lupul may be off injured again.
Got whomped with another major translation assignment again which will probably take me into next week. And I gotta do some more changes on Saturday. When it rains, it pours.
Showing posts with label TV. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TV. Show all posts
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
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!
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!
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Blue Jays are Back!
Tuesday April 2, 12:15 p.m.
Well, I don't think I've heard so much talk about the Blue Jays than has occurred in the past number of months. All these new players like R.A. Dickey, Melky Cabrera and the rest along with the veterans such as Arencibia and Batista. Now, after the previous season of disappointment, everyone here is just gabbing away about a possible World Series victory. Hmmm.....way too early to talk about that, in my opinion. I just heard the president of the Blue Jays himself say "You can't buy chemistry." And we have yet to see that with the so-called New Look Jays....although in several hours, we'll all get that opportunity when they take on the Indians tonight down at the Rogers Centre. At this point, I'll be grateful if they win the home opener and then eventually get into the post-season.
It's hard for me to believe that after the Jays won that dramatic 1993 World Series, they never got back into the playoffs. It was in 1994 that I went off to Japan for my long stint there, so my connection with the Bluebirds became very tenuous; I'd thought that the team had made it into October at least a couple of times. But it's been a very long drought for them. I still remember that night when the Jays took it all at Skydome. I was in a bar just north of Summerhill on Yonge with a lot of my friends when the up-and-down Game 6 unfolded like a Hollywood movie in front of our eyes. Me and the folks in the bar were suffering and exulting on every run and out. But that 9th inning was one for my life....when Joe Carter hit that home run, everyone lost it. I haven't had that feeling of joy shake my bones since that moment. And then I saw the other bars and taverns just vomit the customers onto Yonge St as car horns blared like trumpets. By the time, we got down to Yonge and Bloor, the streets were as packed as rush hour subways. At one point, we got scared that we were going to be crushed to death so we ended up taking refuge at a donut shop for an hour or two before things calmed down....relatively speaking.
We all tiredly separated around 2 a.m in the morning. I had to walk all the way east to Broadview and Danforth before I could actually hail a taxi to get home. But those were happy days in Toronto. I wonder if the 2013 Jays will bring that joy back in October.
This is the commercial that played immediately after the Jays clinched it all. I never heard a whole bar sing a Coke jingle before.
Well, I don't think I've heard so much talk about the Blue Jays than has occurred in the past number of months. All these new players like R.A. Dickey, Melky Cabrera and the rest along with the veterans such as Arencibia and Batista. Now, after the previous season of disappointment, everyone here is just gabbing away about a possible World Series victory. Hmmm.....way too early to talk about that, in my opinion. I just heard the president of the Blue Jays himself say "You can't buy chemistry." And we have yet to see that with the so-called New Look Jays....although in several hours, we'll all get that opportunity when they take on the Indians tonight down at the Rogers Centre. At this point, I'll be grateful if they win the home opener and then eventually get into the post-season.
It's hard for me to believe that after the Jays won that dramatic 1993 World Series, they never got back into the playoffs. It was in 1994 that I went off to Japan for my long stint there, so my connection with the Bluebirds became very tenuous; I'd thought that the team had made it into October at least a couple of times. But it's been a very long drought for them. I still remember that night when the Jays took it all at Skydome. I was in a bar just north of Summerhill on Yonge with a lot of my friends when the up-and-down Game 6 unfolded like a Hollywood movie in front of our eyes. Me and the folks in the bar were suffering and exulting on every run and out. But that 9th inning was one for my life....when Joe Carter hit that home run, everyone lost it. I haven't had that feeling of joy shake my bones since that moment. And then I saw the other bars and taverns just vomit the customers onto Yonge St as car horns blared like trumpets. By the time, we got down to Yonge and Bloor, the streets were as packed as rush hour subways. At one point, we got scared that we were going to be crushed to death so we ended up taking refuge at a donut shop for an hour or two before things calmed down....relatively speaking.
We all tiredly separated around 2 a.m in the morning. I had to walk all the way east to Broadview and Danforth before I could actually hail a taxi to get home. But those were happy days in Toronto. I wonder if the 2013 Jays will bring that joy back in October.
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Easter Weekend
Sunday March 31, 8:58 p.m.
Hard to believe that we're almost into April, and there is still the threat of snow tomorrow. And the weekend was so mild, too. Maybe April Fool's is coming a bit early this year. Hey, this is Toronto...world of wacky weather!
Since I'm neither religious nor a huge eater of chocolate anymore, Easter doesn't have that much meaning for me. And since I work almost exclusively at home now, the long weekend didn't really have that oomph. Still, since it was a holiday weekend, our family went out for good ol' Fish n' Chips. But because the Catholics are indeed keeping to tradition and not eating any red meat, the Fish n' Chips places were doing volume business; I think one owner remarked that Good Friday is the busiest day of the year for them. My family hit The Olde York, a venerable old place, on Saturday evening. And sure enough, Good Friday was spilling over into Good Saturday. We had to wait for about 30 minutes before we could get a table, but the service was absolutely friendly and unruffled despite the hungry hordes, and we all splurged for the Halibut. Of course, that fish is the most delicious (and not surprisingly, the fattiest one); whenever I've gone there in the past, I've gone for the more inexpensive but drier Haddock but since I was eschewing the chowder and the dessert, I decided to go for the gusto. Wasn't disappointed.
Got back home to see the Leafs trounce the Senators 4-0....one columnist for "The Toronto Star" has all but anointed the team into Playoff Nirvana. I'm not quite ready to make that pronouncement myself, but it's nice to hear such happy thoughts this year compared to the horror that was on the ice this time last year.
Then, I saw the start of the 2nd half of Season 7 of "Doctor Who" with a new companion and a slightly new outfit for the Time Lord. Apparently, the reviews have been somewhat mixed for "The Bells of St. John". I'm more in the middle of the pack. It was nice to see Matt Smith happy and madly eccentric, especially after that horrid swan song episode to the Ponds, and the accompanying travelogue to London reminded me of "Skyfall". However, the episode didn't have quite the oomph I had been expecting for the 11th Doctor, especially after all of the accolades that the Xmas Special had gotten (still haven't had the chance to watch it). Hopefully, things will be going ever upwards.
Unfortunately, there has been another shooting at another major shopping mall in Toronto in as many years. The Toronto news channels were all fixated on Yorkdale Mall for the rest of the night after some sort of altercation; from the sounds of the victim's and the instigators' names, it may be a Vietnamese gang issue. Just another way that Toronto seems to be resembling more like an American metropolis....creaking transit system and urban crime.
Hard to believe that we're almost into April, and there is still the threat of snow tomorrow. And the weekend was so mild, too. Maybe April Fool's is coming a bit early this year. Hey, this is Toronto...world of wacky weather!
Since I'm neither religious nor a huge eater of chocolate anymore, Easter doesn't have that much meaning for me. And since I work almost exclusively at home now, the long weekend didn't really have that oomph. Still, since it was a holiday weekend, our family went out for good ol' Fish n' Chips. But because the Catholics are indeed keeping to tradition and not eating any red meat, the Fish n' Chips places were doing volume business; I think one owner remarked that Good Friday is the busiest day of the year for them. My family hit The Olde York, a venerable old place, on Saturday evening. And sure enough, Good Friday was spilling over into Good Saturday. We had to wait for about 30 minutes before we could get a table, but the service was absolutely friendly and unruffled despite the hungry hordes, and we all splurged for the Halibut. Of course, that fish is the most delicious (and not surprisingly, the fattiest one); whenever I've gone there in the past, I've gone for the more inexpensive but drier Haddock but since I was eschewing the chowder and the dessert, I decided to go for the gusto. Wasn't disappointed.
Got back home to see the Leafs trounce the Senators 4-0....one columnist for "The Toronto Star" has all but anointed the team into Playoff Nirvana. I'm not quite ready to make that pronouncement myself, but it's nice to hear such happy thoughts this year compared to the horror that was on the ice this time last year.
Then, I saw the start of the 2nd half of Season 7 of "Doctor Who" with a new companion and a slightly new outfit for the Time Lord. Apparently, the reviews have been somewhat mixed for "The Bells of St. John". I'm more in the middle of the pack. It was nice to see Matt Smith happy and madly eccentric, especially after that horrid swan song episode to the Ponds, and the accompanying travelogue to London reminded me of "Skyfall". However, the episode didn't have quite the oomph I had been expecting for the 11th Doctor, especially after all of the accolades that the Xmas Special had gotten (still haven't had the chance to watch it). Hopefully, things will be going ever upwards.
Unfortunately, there has been another shooting at another major shopping mall in Toronto in as many years. The Toronto news channels were all fixated on Yorkdale Mall for the rest of the night after some sort of altercation; from the sounds of the victim's and the instigators' names, it may be a Vietnamese gang issue. Just another way that Toronto seems to be resembling more like an American metropolis....creaking transit system and urban crime.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Fun and Games in T.O.
Tuesday March 26, 11:53 a.m.
Well, it's come to the point that whenever Mayor Rob Ford's name pops up in a broadcast, Torontonians' eyes roll to the back of the head with the dependence of an involuntary reflex. And so, the latest in the 2-year series of The Perils of Rob has "The Toronto Star" splashing this exclusive on the front page about allegations of alcohol abuse. Of course, the triumvirate of the Ford Brothers and Deputy Mayor Holyday immediately put up their shields and fired some warning phaser shots almost immediately after the news got out.
At this point, after all of the sturm und drang that has followed Rob Ford for the past couple of years with the court stuff and the recent accusation by a former election rival of sexual assault, it'll probably take even more than today's headline to have this news last beyond the better part of this week. Confidential sources are one thing, but I think it'll take some big names and absolute hand-in-the-cookie-jar proof to even dislodge anything. We've just gotten so inured to all of the bread and circuses.
And what about The Leafs? They took three out of four points from the Boston Bruins. Yep, the Buds aren't exactly great at shootouts but since once the game is at that stage, both teams are gonna come away with something, so it's not such a terrible thing to lose, aside from the pride aspect. But the big thing here is that not a lot of fans had expected Phaneuf, Kadri and company to get anything from the Bruins considering the past couple of years, so three points is pretty darn good.
Took that needed hour's walk today. Nope, not that cold but the winds are out there. I actually got a rare Monday off from translation. I got a heads-up last week from one of my colleagues that things could be a bit slower than usual for the next week or so since Japan is entering the final week of the fiscal calendar. Plus, April is the reset month for a lot of everything over there so the normal course of things will be disrupted for a bit. A lot of corporate parties for welcoming and saying goodbye will be in order for the next several weeks leading up to Golden Week.
Well, it's come to the point that whenever Mayor Rob Ford's name pops up in a broadcast, Torontonians' eyes roll to the back of the head with the dependence of an involuntary reflex. And so, the latest in the 2-year series of The Perils of Rob has "The Toronto Star" splashing this exclusive on the front page about allegations of alcohol abuse. Of course, the triumvirate of the Ford Brothers and Deputy Mayor Holyday immediately put up their shields and fired some warning phaser shots almost immediately after the news got out.
At this point, after all of the sturm und drang that has followed Rob Ford for the past couple of years with the court stuff and the recent accusation by a former election rival of sexual assault, it'll probably take even more than today's headline to have this news last beyond the better part of this week. Confidential sources are one thing, but I think it'll take some big names and absolute hand-in-the-cookie-jar proof to even dislodge anything. We've just gotten so inured to all of the bread and circuses.
And what about The Leafs? They took three out of four points from the Boston Bruins. Yep, the Buds aren't exactly great at shootouts but since once the game is at that stage, both teams are gonna come away with something, so it's not such a terrible thing to lose, aside from the pride aspect. But the big thing here is that not a lot of fans had expected Phaneuf, Kadri and company to get anything from the Bruins considering the past couple of years, so three points is pretty darn good.
Took that needed hour's walk today. Nope, not that cold but the winds are out there. I actually got a rare Monday off from translation. I got a heads-up last week from one of my colleagues that things could be a bit slower than usual for the next week or so since Japan is entering the final week of the fiscal calendar. Plus, April is the reset month for a lot of everything over there so the normal course of things will be disrupted for a bit. A lot of corporate parties for welcoming and saying goodbye will be in order for the next several weeks leading up to Golden Week.
Monday, March 11, 2013
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.
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.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Bye Seth, Hello Storm
Tuesday February 26, 11:12 a.m.
Well, in a not-too-surprising PS to last night's entry about Seth MacFarlane and the Oscars, Hollywood's current bullseye just tweeted that he would definitely not come back as the host next year. So I guess Amy and Tina are up! But the producers may have to do battle with the Golden Globes guys to get them. Perhaps the producers can throw in a couple of names to be added later: Paul Rudd and Melissa McCarthy...please.
Supposedly, we got another major storm on the way which could veer from a lot of rain to a lot of snow. Whatever the precip, there's a lot of it coming. It's looking pretty nice out there right now, though.
Got the latest translation off to the company, but I've got one more to finish for Cozy today. Not too difficult.
The Leafs have won another one against the Flyers. It's been a good time to be a Torontonian when it comes to sports. The Blue Jays are not doing too shabbily in Dunedin, the Leafs have been doing far better than last year's sad sacks and the Raptors aren't too bad either (although they lost at home to the NBA's worst road team last night, the Washington Wizards...a bit embarrassing, that). I guess a lot of Toronto sports fans almost feel like a guy who's just come out of rehab a new man.
Unfortunately, I've just heard that 4 Japanese nationals have been killed in Egypt due to a hot air balloon exploding and falling near Luxor. From the names, the four sound like older people; very sad.
Well, in a not-too-surprising PS to last night's entry about Seth MacFarlane and the Oscars, Hollywood's current bullseye just tweeted that he would definitely not come back as the host next year. So I guess Amy and Tina are up! But the producers may have to do battle with the Golden Globes guys to get them. Perhaps the producers can throw in a couple of names to be added later: Paul Rudd and Melissa McCarthy...please.
Supposedly, we got another major storm on the way which could veer from a lot of rain to a lot of snow. Whatever the precip, there's a lot of it coming. It's looking pretty nice out there right now, though.
Got the latest translation off to the company, but I've got one more to finish for Cozy today. Not too difficult.
The Leafs have won another one against the Flyers. It's been a good time to be a Torontonian when it comes to sports. The Blue Jays are not doing too shabbily in Dunedin, the Leafs have been doing far better than last year's sad sacks and the Raptors aren't too bad either (although they lost at home to the NBA's worst road team last night, the Washington Wizards...a bit embarrassing, that). I guess a lot of Toronto sports fans almost feel like a guy who's just come out of rehab a new man.
Unfortunately, I've just heard that 4 Japanese nationals have been killed in Egypt due to a hot air balloon exploding and falling near Luxor. From the names, the four sound like older people; very sad.
Monday, February 25, 2013
Nice College Try, Seth
Well, I saw my 2nd Oscars in as many years last night. And well, Seth MacFarlane....I'll cut to the chase here. He wasn't great, but he wasn't the worst host either. And he was better than Billy Crystal was last year. I think we had been all forewarned about MacFarlane's frat boy humour, and he definitely proved it with the now-and-forever infamous "Saw Your Boobs" song-and-dance. To be honest, I had no particular problems with the humour....at least, the jokes that didn't land with a thud. But there was a bit of a desperation with Seth as the night wore on, especially when the show went beyond its mandated 3 hours. Apparently, the ratings were quite a ways up when all was said and done, so there is a pretty fair chance that he may be asked back, and while I was watching it, I was actually tensing up whenever he showed up just to see and hear what other terrifying thing might emanate from his mouth. But then again, I wouldn't be surprised if the producers decided to keep on searching. Amy Poehler and Tina Fey hit a grand slam apparently at The Golden Globes, something that Seth pointedly did not do.
Still, it was nice to see Shatner ham it up, MacFarlane bring back some of that ol' time big band glitz that he loves so much, and even some of the stars get into the act like Charlize Theron and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Christopher Plummer was class personified, and Barbra/Shirley/Adele brought the house down, especially Dame Bassey with "Goldfinger". She's older than my Dad but she just slammed that song out of the park. It's too bad that the so-called Oscar tribute to James Bond was just quick cuts of the movies and a couple of songs by the orchestra. But Sir Sean is too frail and Pierce is probably too embittered. The Les Miserables cast performance was fine until Russell Crowe burst in when it truly became the miserable. And I was getting desperate when I was witnessing Paul Rudd and that lady from "Identity Thief" bombing as they were trying to present an award. But I guess that's what audiences also wanted to see.....who will soar and who will die.
I think the Oscars reflects not only what the fashion is like for the year but basically what pop culture is like. In our current time of reality show programming and lowbrow humour, getting a lot of nasty jokes and "WOW! He actually said THAT?!" moments on the biggest show of the Hollywood year is part and parcel. It's probably what we deserve although I have never and never will watch a (sur)reality show. But when I see a terrified Ben Affleck throw an irritated verbal missile at Seth (who is probably the first host in a while since David Letterman to have already had a built-in list of celeb haters, thanks to "Family Guy" ) and Salma Hayek come out to present with a plastic smile after Seth had made a pretty insulting introduction about her linguistic abilities, I kinda wonder if it's time for the next host to not only bring back old time music but to bring back some form of old time class to the proceedings.
Friday, February 15, 2013
Triumph Comes Home
The above is a promotional video of the now-notorious cruise ship Triumph that was taped in 2011. Lots of panoramic shots of what to look forward to when passengers plunk down the big money for an opportunity to sail the Caribbean in relative luxury.
Of course, that final voyage was anything but for those passengers.
Nothing compared to the Triumph, but I had a small similar taste of what those passengers had been force-fed several years ago. I was on a Northwest Airlines trip coming from Tokyo to Detroit to Toronto when the toilets stopped working over the Pacific for about 6 hours. And this happened just after we got our lunch service. Toilets were almost overflowing and looked pretty bad. Just before getting the good news, I had been looking at my paper cup with some desperation.
Sunday, February 10, 2013
The 12th Doctor?
Sunday February 10, 3:09 p.m.
Well, two days after the storm of the season, I think Torontonians are still trying to dig out of the 25 cm or so of snow that has befallen them. Even in my neighbourhood which has a major street alongside, a large segment of the sidewalk is still totally covered in the white stuff. But I have to say unlike a lot of aftermath days following a major snowstorm, it's been very pleasantly sunny out there, which gives an appealing glisten to the still largely untouched snow.
Anyways, onto something far more whimsical and geeky. Of course, any Whovians looking at this blog know that this year is the 50th anniversary of our favourite series, "Doctor Who", and there are plenty of events in store on the BBC and everywhere to commemorate the occasion.
But my main question bouncing off the walls of my ever-fragile cranium is who will follow the 11th Doctor, thespian and character-wise. I realize it's probably quite too early for anyone but the most far forward-looking fan to consider THE most important question that Great Britain must ponder next to the question of who the next 007 will be or when Prince Charles will finally ascend to the throne. Still, the question begs to be contemplated if not answered immediately.
I have come across a page that had people trying to answer that question with their own thespian choices and even right down to the type of costume. Apparently, Benedict Cumberbatch may be a busy man for the next several years if the 'Beeb' actually heeds the viewers' opinions. He's already a popular man because of the UK version of the current Sherlock Holmes program, and he's up-and-coming as the main villain on the next "Star Trek"movie. I figure if he's a lock for "Doctor Who", he only needs to score a role as a Jedi to reach ultimate sci-fi legendry.
And Cumberbatch does fulfill at least one of my conditions to become a Who: he's older. I think the Twelfth Doctor has to be someone in his late 30 or 40s, and not an obviously youthful-looking 30s or 40s either. There has been a de-aging of sorts of the Time Lord after Chris Eccleston's regeneration into David Tennant which should stop, lest we start getting the next Harry Potter or Encyclopedia Brown as the next Gallifreyan. Also, it should be someone who looks less geeky and more seasoned, someone along the lines of Eccleston or his predecessor, Paul McGann, although he shouldn't be quite as intimidatingly manic or angry as the former. The basic Doctor personality should be intact: curious and whimsical if a bit tetchy but a being who won't suffer fools gladly and can stand up for a fallen universe.
As for the new Doctor costume, again let's be away from the obviously geeky sartorial references such as bow ties, specs and suspenders The First Doctor went for Victorian; well, perhaps, the next guy can go for something more Edwardian. I think David Bowie and his besuited style immediately struck me as a Who-type when he made his dramatic entrance in the movie "The Prestige"as Nikola Tesla. I think there needs to be a certain conservatism in the next guy since the Doctor is approaching the end of his lives, and I'm also considering that situation with the Valeyard in "The Trial of a Time Lord" back during the Sixth Doctor's reign. The final 13th Doctor can deal contentedly with lives well lived, but the 12th Doctor will have to finally confront his sins and those of others before that final regeneration.
As for names, I can only think of the worldwide well-known British thespians such as Jude Law or Colin Firth, and most likely the BBC will usually eschew them for the more obscure or up-and-coming actors, so I really can't say. But one thing I can say is that when Matt Smith decides to hang up his tweed jacket for good, whether it's next year or a few years down the line, the 12th Doctor Sweepstakes will burn through the wires like no other entertainment news story.
Well, two days after the storm of the season, I think Torontonians are still trying to dig out of the 25 cm or so of snow that has befallen them. Even in my neighbourhood which has a major street alongside, a large segment of the sidewalk is still totally covered in the white stuff. But I have to say unlike a lot of aftermath days following a major snowstorm, it's been very pleasantly sunny out there, which gives an appealing glisten to the still largely untouched snow.
Anyways, onto something far more whimsical and geeky. Of course, any Whovians looking at this blog know that this year is the 50th anniversary of our favourite series, "Doctor Who", and there are plenty of events in store on the BBC and everywhere to commemorate the occasion.
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| Courtesy of Darth Ray from Flickr |
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| courtesy of Naomi Roper from Flickr |
And Cumberbatch does fulfill at least one of my conditions to become a Who: he's older. I think the Twelfth Doctor has to be someone in his late 30 or 40s, and not an obviously youthful-looking 30s or 40s either. There has been a de-aging of sorts of the Time Lord after Chris Eccleston's regeneration into David Tennant which should stop, lest we start getting the next Harry Potter or Encyclopedia Brown as the next Gallifreyan. Also, it should be someone who looks less geeky and more seasoned, someone along the lines of Eccleston or his predecessor, Paul McGann, although he shouldn't be quite as intimidatingly manic or angry as the former. The basic Doctor personality should be intact: curious and whimsical if a bit tetchy but a being who won't suffer fools gladly and can stand up for a fallen universe.
As for the new Doctor costume, again let's be away from the obviously geeky sartorial references such as bow ties, specs and suspenders The First Doctor went for Victorian; well, perhaps, the next guy can go for something more Edwardian. I think David Bowie and his besuited style immediately struck me as a Who-type when he made his dramatic entrance in the movie "The Prestige"as Nikola Tesla. I think there needs to be a certain conservatism in the next guy since the Doctor is approaching the end of his lives, and I'm also considering that situation with the Valeyard in "The Trial of a Time Lord" back during the Sixth Doctor's reign. The final 13th Doctor can deal contentedly with lives well lived, but the 12th Doctor will have to finally confront his sins and those of others before that final regeneration.
As for names, I can only think of the worldwide well-known British thespians such as Jude Law or Colin Firth, and most likely the BBC will usually eschew them for the more obscure or up-and-coming actors, so I really can't say. But one thing I can say is that when Matt Smith decides to hang up his tweed jacket for good, whether it's next year or a few years down the line, the 12th Doctor Sweepstakes will burn through the wires like no other entertainment news story.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Sorry Lance....don't think so.
Thursday January 31, 5:05 p.m.
I was watching CTV News at 6 pm last night as I usually do, and of course, at around 6:45, the avuncular sportscaster Lance Brown popped up to do his report. One of the features was about this proposed huge arena out north in Markham. The mayor of the growing city, Frank Scarpitti, and the other supporters behind the project just barely passed the gauntlet in the wee hours of the morning a few days ago, which means the consternation will continue about the financial feasibility of this project and the local popularity. One of the carrots on the stick where this arena is concerned is the attraction of an NHL franchise in the supposedly not-so-distant future.
Brown feels that it's just a matter of time before the NHL comes knocking. In his words, "....not tomorrow, but soon". And here I thought he was one of the more cynical local broadcasters, especially when it came to the fortunes of the Maple Leafs. Heck, I'm still not sure whether this arena is even gonna get built, and Brown thinks the Phoenix Coyotes or the Tampa Bay Lightning are gonna migrate upwards? I don't think so....I heard that there were a few more possible candidate cities before Markham even gets a first glance....namely, Quebec City. Personally, it would be nice to see the Nordiques-Canadiens rivalry again. Brown is right in that any team that would come up to Markham will most likely have to pay tribute money to the Leafs to encroach on their turf, but I think for that very reason among others, the GTA becoming a 2-team city is hard to imagine. I don't think it's impossible to see a second team here; I just don't agree with Lance's truncated timeline.
And it seems like the group trying to keep the Coyotes in Arizona has run into another financial snag. So, the team may be moving after this season, but it won't be anywhere by Toronto. I hope the players can learn French and love poutine..
I was watching CTV News at 6 pm last night as I usually do, and of course, at around 6:45, the avuncular sportscaster Lance Brown popped up to do his report. One of the features was about this proposed huge arena out north in Markham. The mayor of the growing city, Frank Scarpitti, and the other supporters behind the project just barely passed the gauntlet in the wee hours of the morning a few days ago, which means the consternation will continue about the financial feasibility of this project and the local popularity. One of the carrots on the stick where this arena is concerned is the attraction of an NHL franchise in the supposedly not-so-distant future.
Brown feels that it's just a matter of time before the NHL comes knocking. In his words, "....not tomorrow, but soon". And here I thought he was one of the more cynical local broadcasters, especially when it came to the fortunes of the Maple Leafs. Heck, I'm still not sure whether this arena is even gonna get built, and Brown thinks the Phoenix Coyotes or the Tampa Bay Lightning are gonna migrate upwards? I don't think so....I heard that there were a few more possible candidate cities before Markham even gets a first glance....namely, Quebec City. Personally, it would be nice to see the Nordiques-Canadiens rivalry again. Brown is right in that any team that would come up to Markham will most likely have to pay tribute money to the Leafs to encroach on their turf, but I think for that very reason among others, the GTA becoming a 2-team city is hard to imagine. I don't think it's impossible to see a second team here; I just don't agree with Lance's truncated timeline.
And it seems like the group trying to keep the Coyotes in Arizona has run into another financial snag. So, the team may be moving after this season, but it won't be anywhere by Toronto. I hope the players can learn French and love poutine..
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Leafs Lose, Ontario Wynne!
Sunday January 27, 12:14 a.m.
Well, it was another day spent figuring out Japanese into English, although I did use my "parole" to walk around the block in the last day of deep freeze before another thaw comes our way. Heading up to 12 degrees by Tuesday! With this pattern of alternating freezing and heating up since the year began, all of us may end up truly tempered by Spring. Didn't make a whole lot of headway in the translation since I got caught in a spate of tricky vocab and tangled sentence structure, unfortunately. At this rate, by tomorrow night, I'll probably have to inform the boss that I will need to pass off the final parts of it to others since I now have Cozy's translation requests to handle as well.
The overarching theme on TV was via CP24 with that Ontario Liberal Party leadership convention finishing up today at the old Maple Leaf Gardens (I heard the Leafs used to actually win Stanley Cups there once). I just popped in on the channel once every few hours to see how the voting was going; unless I were the most ardent of political animals, I wouldn't last 10 hours to watch who was going to win one of those. But at the end of the day, literally and figuratively, Kathleen Wynne got the nod to become the new Liberal leader and, therefore, received the keys to the Premiership of Ontario....for as however long as she can keep them before a Spring election. It may all end up being a short internship for her since the Liberals are not a well-loved group outside of the Gardens.
It was a slight surprise since in the last few days, it seemed that her closest competitor, Sandra Pupatello, was about ready to take over in the media's eyes, but on the third ballot, Wynne won. So, she now not only has become the province's first female premier, but she is the first openly gay premier in the history of Canada. And the wonderful thing is that, although that latter fact was mentioned a fair bit during the coverage, jaws didn't drop or eyes boggle out as in a Warner Bros. cartoon at the news.
But it could be interesting for Mayor Rob Ford. He's never said it openly, but it's generally assumed that he's no fan of the LGBT community. I just wonder how a first meeting is gonna be like.
As for the Leafs, I think I'm detecting a pattern. They take a lead for two-thirds of a game and then lose it all in the end. It's kinda like that Las Vegas sucker who supposedly wins big at poker before the Ocean's Eleven gang wipes him out at the stroke of midnight. Maybe it's time for Coach Carlyle to put his Loonies where his mouth is and start benching a few players.
Well, it was another day spent figuring out Japanese into English, although I did use my "parole" to walk around the block in the last day of deep freeze before another thaw comes our way. Heading up to 12 degrees by Tuesday! With this pattern of alternating freezing and heating up since the year began, all of us may end up truly tempered by Spring. Didn't make a whole lot of headway in the translation since I got caught in a spate of tricky vocab and tangled sentence structure, unfortunately. At this rate, by tomorrow night, I'll probably have to inform the boss that I will need to pass off the final parts of it to others since I now have Cozy's translation requests to handle as well.
The overarching theme on TV was via CP24 with that Ontario Liberal Party leadership convention finishing up today at the old Maple Leaf Gardens (I heard the Leafs used to actually win Stanley Cups there once). I just popped in on the channel once every few hours to see how the voting was going; unless I were the most ardent of political animals, I wouldn't last 10 hours to watch who was going to win one of those. But at the end of the day, literally and figuratively, Kathleen Wynne got the nod to become the new Liberal leader and, therefore, received the keys to the Premiership of Ontario....for as however long as she can keep them before a Spring election. It may all end up being a short internship for her since the Liberals are not a well-loved group outside of the Gardens.
It was a slight surprise since in the last few days, it seemed that her closest competitor, Sandra Pupatello, was about ready to take over in the media's eyes, but on the third ballot, Wynne won. So, she now not only has become the province's first female premier, but she is the first openly gay premier in the history of Canada. And the wonderful thing is that, although that latter fact was mentioned a fair bit during the coverage, jaws didn't drop or eyes boggle out as in a Warner Bros. cartoon at the news.
But it could be interesting for Mayor Rob Ford. He's never said it openly, but it's generally assumed that he's no fan of the LGBT community. I just wonder how a first meeting is gonna be like.
As for the Leafs, I think I'm detecting a pattern. They take a lead for two-thirds of a game and then lose it all in the end. It's kinda like that Las Vegas sucker who supposedly wins big at poker before the Ocean's Eleven gang wipes him out at the stroke of midnight. Maybe it's time for Coach Carlyle to put his Loonies where his mouth is and start benching a few players.
Monday, January 21, 2013
Different News Fronts
Monday January 21, 7:51 p.m.
Well, it's been a varied day in terms of news. Down in the States, the main story was the second inauguration of Barack Obama, over in Japan, NHK led with the sad news that 7 Japanese nationals have been confirmed killed due to the hostage incident in Algeria, and over here, the big story was the return of the Leafs to action tonight. It was nice to see and hear the Leafs win the first game in Montreal....and a low-scoring one, at that. Saw the first few minutes of tonight's Buffalo-Toronto game....pretty spirited although the Leaf defence still needs a bit of enhancing, but our own buzzsaw, Colton Orr, managed to knock a 6'8" fellow down to his knees in the first fight at the ACC this year. Always great for morale to see that.
I managed to fairly sprint through another 50 pages of translation this afternoon since there wasn't all that much text. Just have another 50 or so to go and then the final check before hand-in.
Well, it's been a varied day in terms of news. Down in the States, the main story was the second inauguration of Barack Obama, over in Japan, NHK led with the sad news that 7 Japanese nationals have been confirmed killed due to the hostage incident in Algeria, and over here, the big story was the return of the Leafs to action tonight. It was nice to see and hear the Leafs win the first game in Montreal....and a low-scoring one, at that. Saw the first few minutes of tonight's Buffalo-Toronto game....pretty spirited although the Leaf defence still needs a bit of enhancing, but our own buzzsaw, Colton Orr, managed to knock a 6'8" fellow down to his knees in the first fight at the ACC this year. Always great for morale to see that.
I managed to fairly sprint through another 50 pages of translation this afternoon since there wasn't all that much text. Just have another 50 or so to go and then the final check before hand-in.
Saturday, January 19, 2013
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.
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.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
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 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.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Learning How to Slide/Nagisa Oshima
Tuesday January 15, 10:15 p.m.
Well, it's been about a couple of days since the big snow hit the Kanto Region. And the consequences are starting to befall commuters. Yup, the traffic on the major highways has been snarled up....kinda like looks like the Gardiner Expressway here on a bad day...which is usually everyday. But the NHK report also told of over 1,500 incidents of people falling over on the sidewalks or floors since Sunday. Looks like it's not just cars that need the chains....and yep, tires in Japan often get the chains for snow driving. I haven't seen chains here on car tires since the 1960s....and that was through ancient Canadian Tire catalogs. Anyways, I'm not laughing....we may be getting some of the white stuff as well in a few days. It would be appropriate, though....NHL season is coming back on Saturday.
As soon as I entered the living room this morning, I caught the news on NHK that director Nagisa Oshima had passed away from pneumonia at the age of 80. His name is not particularly a household one on this side of the Pacific. But for some of the veteran cineasts out there, he was the auteur who had directed the controversial "In the Realm of the Senses" back in the 1970s and "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence" with David Bowie and Ryuichi Sakamoto in 1983. Never saw the latter one, but I remember it making news for the fact that Bowie was in it, and at the time, he was hitting another peak in his career in his incarnation as MTV-friendly pop star. Sakamoto was also cruising fine as one-third of the Yellow Magic Orchestra back in Japan. Actually for me, the theme song, also created and performed by Sakamoto, is the most well-known part of the movie for me.
Not sure how long this video will stay up on YouTube, but here is a series of commercials that the director actually appeared in. Some of them match the image of zaniness that Japanese commercials have cultivated. But that was the thing about Oshima. As one of his friends pointed out today on the news, Oshima had no taboos about anything. He showed that in his movies, his interviews (his friend also remarked that Oshima would fight with anybody anywhere anytime), and even the commercials. He may have been an intimidating high-level director but his ego wasn't so big that he would pooh-pooh the idea of appearing in a TV ad.
I used to see him in my early years in Japan on TV shows regularly. At the time, I hadn't even known it was Nagisa Oshima. I saw this cheerful, talkative old guy as a panelist on a number of game shows, not realizing that this was THE Nagisa Oshima. Still, when I finally did see him at work in some documentary footage, he was the scariest sumbitch. He probably had the power to reduce yakuza to tears if they didn't act like he ordered. People did not cross this man intentionally.
There was a Saturday night program called "Hammer Price" which was hosted by the comedy duo, Tunnels (one of whom is Takaaki Ishibashi, who had his brief 15 minutes of Hollywood by playing the insane baseball import in the last few movies of the "Major League"franchise). It was an auction comedy game show of sorts where the studio audience could bid on some crazed piece of pop culture whether it be a sample of bathwater that a buxom actress had sat in or Robert DeNiro's attempt at calligraphy (both true). Well, one night, someone bid and won the opportunity for his child's graduation ceremony to be filmed by Oshima himself. And Oshima actually did it....with crane shots and all of the energy and anger that he brought to all of his other projects. It was quite the scene...no pun intended.
Anyways, I leave you with the theme from "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence" which is one of the de rigueur Xmas tunes heard everywhere in Japan during the Holidays.
And this is "Ai no Corrida", the Quincy Jones disco tune from "The Dude". It's one of my favourite songs from that era of R&B, and the original version was written by Chaz Jankel and Kenny Young. "Ai no Corrida"was the original Japanese title from Oshima's "In The Realm of the Senses", and according to Jankel in his first album, he decided to adopt the title for the song.
Well, it's been about a couple of days since the big snow hit the Kanto Region. And the consequences are starting to befall commuters. Yup, the traffic on the major highways has been snarled up....kinda like looks like the Gardiner Expressway here on a bad day...which is usually everyday. But the NHK report also told of over 1,500 incidents of people falling over on the sidewalks or floors since Sunday. Looks like it's not just cars that need the chains....and yep, tires in Japan often get the chains for snow driving. I haven't seen chains here on car tires since the 1960s....and that was through ancient Canadian Tire catalogs. Anyways, I'm not laughing....we may be getting some of the white stuff as well in a few days. It would be appropriate, though....NHL season is coming back on Saturday.
I used to see him in my early years in Japan on TV shows regularly. At the time, I hadn't even known it was Nagisa Oshima. I saw this cheerful, talkative old guy as a panelist on a number of game shows, not realizing that this was THE Nagisa Oshima. Still, when I finally did see him at work in some documentary footage, he was the scariest sumbitch. He probably had the power to reduce yakuza to tears if they didn't act like he ordered. People did not cross this man intentionally.
There was a Saturday night program called "Hammer Price" which was hosted by the comedy duo, Tunnels (one of whom is Takaaki Ishibashi, who had his brief 15 minutes of Hollywood by playing the insane baseball import in the last few movies of the "Major League"franchise). It was an auction comedy game show of sorts where the studio audience could bid on some crazed piece of pop culture whether it be a sample of bathwater that a buxom actress had sat in or Robert DeNiro's attempt at calligraphy (both true). Well, one night, someone bid and won the opportunity for his child's graduation ceremony to be filmed by Oshima himself. And Oshima actually did it....with crane shots and all of the energy and anger that he brought to all of his other projects. It was quite the scene...no pun intended.
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Translating Saturday
Saturday January 12, 10:48 p.m.
It's been a quiet start to the weekend with most of today being spent doing some translation work. It wasn't too difficult but somewhat arduous since there wasn't much of a translation memory to work with. Gotta say that the weather has been gorgeous at least when it comes to temperature. The mid-January thaw has done its job....the snow is completely gone and it feels more like Spring out there. We should have one more day like this since we'll be heading up to 12 degrees tomorrow but then we return with a huge thud back to Winter as the high temperature is only going up to 0 degrees on Monday. We may even have some of that snow back by this time next week.
Well, the players have ratified the CBA, so hockey is back on. Training camps should be launching tomorrow and the first games will be hitting the screen and the arenas next Saturday. I'm gonna be really interested in seeing how the general managers will be parlaying the next few days before game time. The big question here in Toronto is whether the new guy, Dave Nonis, will be getting Roberto Luongo as the new goalie. Even if he does don his mask here at the ACC, I think he will just be a band-aid until one of the youngsters finally gets up to speed and skill. But the guy who won't be involved in any of this: Brian Burke. He had his final press conference with the media he mostly despises. He was relatively cordial, though, as he apologized for his failure to bring any sort of winning team to the masses, but he still brought out plenty of stick to certain members of the press....namely Steve Simmons. Most of those reporters won't admit it, but I bet some of them would like to use a stick on him. In any case, he's gone....let's see what the new guy does.
But on the 19th, I've got my Skype student back on-line for this lesson, so I won't be seeing too much of the game. It's a Habs-Buds lineup but it's over in Montreal, and this matchup is rather far from the classic level from yesteryear. Both the Canadiens and the Leafs have seen far better days. And another old friend from Japan is visiting....I was invited for a big reunion dinner on that night but had to decline because of the lesson, but hopefully I may be able to make it for the dim sum the next day, although I know that The Anime King should be coming back home on the 18th so he may come calling for our first Anime-and-Foodie outing of the year.
It's been a quiet start to the weekend with most of today being spent doing some translation work. It wasn't too difficult but somewhat arduous since there wasn't much of a translation memory to work with. Gotta say that the weather has been gorgeous at least when it comes to temperature. The mid-January thaw has done its job....the snow is completely gone and it feels more like Spring out there. We should have one more day like this since we'll be heading up to 12 degrees tomorrow but then we return with a huge thud back to Winter as the high temperature is only going up to 0 degrees on Monday. We may even have some of that snow back by this time next week.
Well, the players have ratified the CBA, so hockey is back on. Training camps should be launching tomorrow and the first games will be hitting the screen and the arenas next Saturday. I'm gonna be really interested in seeing how the general managers will be parlaying the next few days before game time. The big question here in Toronto is whether the new guy, Dave Nonis, will be getting Roberto Luongo as the new goalie. Even if he does don his mask here at the ACC, I think he will just be a band-aid until one of the youngsters finally gets up to speed and skill. But the guy who won't be involved in any of this: Brian Burke. He had his final press conference with the media he mostly despises. He was relatively cordial, though, as he apologized for his failure to bring any sort of winning team to the masses, but he still brought out plenty of stick to certain members of the press....namely Steve Simmons. Most of those reporters won't admit it, but I bet some of them would like to use a stick on him. In any case, he's gone....let's see what the new guy does.
But on the 19th, I've got my Skype student back on-line for this lesson, so I won't be seeing too much of the game. It's a Habs-Buds lineup but it's over in Montreal, and this matchup is rather far from the classic level from yesteryear. Both the Canadiens and the Leafs have seen far better days. And another old friend from Japan is visiting....I was invited for a big reunion dinner on that night but had to decline because of the lesson, but hopefully I may be able to make it for the dim sum the next day, although I know that The Anime King should be coming back home on the 18th so he may come calling for our first Anime-and-Foodie outing of the year.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
So Long, Burkie!
Well, I'll tell ya....I was just going to start up lunch after a few hours of translation work in my bedroom, and I decide to turn on good ol' CP24. As soon as the TV goes on, the dramatic tones of "Breaking News" flies out of the speaker, and I get the info that Leafs GM Brian Burke is out the door. Yes, the guy who made the word "truculent" more than a cool move in Scrabble was fired after 4 years on the job.
It's been an interesting several weeks for Toronto sports teams and media. We have two teams, the Blue Jays and the Leafs, who used to have glory years but now don't....both teams stunk out the joint in their previous seasons, and now both teams have pulled off more excitement in the off-season than they did on active status. For a day in which the only exciting news about ice hockey was to have been the official ratification on the NHL owners' side of the new CBA between them and the NHLPA, everyone got blindsided into furious action. TSN and Sportsnet pretty much threw out the schedule for the rest of the afternoon, and only spoke about Burke....with a momentary interruption for the official announcement of the ratification. The news first broke in the middle of lunch hour, so I assume that the gaggle time around the watercooler in a lot of companies got extended by 15 minutes. Probably the gang at all of the restaurants suddenly went quiet for a few minutes before the ambient level of chatter increased tenfold.
I was only back for one year of the reign of Brian Burke, but quickly picked up how prickly he could be with the media....and Don Cherry. I saw the 1:45 press conference of the announcement of Burke's sudden ouster and the introduction of the "new" guy, David Nonis, an old friend and colleague of Burke's and his No. 2. Nonis said that he had gotten the news this morning, but he looked as if he had gotten the news a minute before the press conference. I think probably all of us were caught off-guard by the timing of the news but not of the news itself. Burke had promised that he would bring glory to Toronto once again when he arrived back in late 2008; of course, he brought nothing close to that, so he should be fired. But the question everyone is asking: why now? The weekend should be interesting once the NHLPA ratifies the CBA. The content of those last two statements could be linked.
Well, at least I now know a word that rhymes with "succulent".
Sunday, January 6, 2013
The Old Black & Whites
He's Joe Friday...he's a cop....partner's Ben Romero...he's a sergeant....as Joe is....Chief of Detectives is Thad Brown (played by Raymond Burr!)....and this is the pilot!
The pilot is indeed interesting....just for the fact that the episode takes place within only two rooms, and the guys get their hands very dirty.
Monday, December 31, 2012
Happy New Year
Tuesday January 1 2013, 1:10 a.m.
I'm not typing this as I decompress at the denouement of a New Year's Eve party. I'm at home in my PJs while the television is showing the rerun of the annual NHK Red-and-White Song Festival. My parents are taping the 4.75-hour extravaganza and don't know how to use the timer function on the VCR (yes, we still have that contraption). Therefore, I must stay awake until 2 a.m. when the show finally finishes up. The White (Men's) Team won....and pretty handily, I must say. The Red (Women's) Team had a few problems amongst its participants. I wouldn't say that singers like Ayumi Hamasaki and Mika Nakashima were solely responsible for their team losing, but they certainly didn't help with some wretchedly off-tune performances. My face automatically scrunched up at the aural horror unleashed upon me, and my brain wholly wished that the Japanese would invent an Auto-Tune microphone for these two if they are ever asked back. It was nice seeing Princess Princess getting a final chance on stage on their first, only, and final appearance at the festival.
Earlier today, I went out with The Wild Guy and his family to a mutual friend's house out on the West End for some lunch. Our host was nice to create a Chinese-themed meal....considering the spread she put out, it would've cost close to $40 if we'd had the same thing at a restaurant in Yokohama easily. I only had to pay with a contribution of Laura Secord.
I've been back in Canada now for a year and two weeks. It's been a transitional period although it hasn't had anything to do with any difficulty in settling back into life in the hometown. I've been quite comfortable here. However, over the last 12 months, I've seen myself shift out of teaching, something that I've done for a quarter of a century, and into translating and writing on a couple of blogs. What has kept things connected for me between Japan and Canada is social media. With sites such as Facebook, I have been able to keep pretty good contact with my old friends in Tokyo and Chiba, even though I can no longer meet them in person for the foreseeable future. Being back in Toronto, though, I've also experienced the realization that some of my old friends have become more distant due to family responsibilities and proximity, but other friends have become closer. Certainly, the Anime King is one such fellow and I have gotten a good grounding in what has been popular in the otaku field in my time back home....something that I probably wouldn't have had in the birthplace of anime itself due to the ever-present stigma. Being in a 'foreign' country has provided some measure of sanctuary. Strangely enough, the King is currently traveling in Japan right now and won't be back for a few more weeks.
Not sure what 2013 has in store for me. I can assume that translation will continue to be my new main source of income while people like Mr. Moriya and Swank will provide me with some wisps of my main professional life....at least for a little while. I actually did a quick proofread of the latter student's application letter a couple of nights ago. She was quite appreciative of my efforts on the sudden request....I was surprised to get a far more generous deposit in my account than I warranted. One of my old friends, whom I hadn't seen in several years, said that she would try to set me up with a friend of hers. Hmmmm....I did ask to warn her friend that I was a burgeoning otaku/geek, but of course, she didn't reply to that. Well, I'll apply the same principle in this situation that I will apply to this year: Be hopeful but not expectant. Certainly when it comes to Toronto's professional sports teams, that is also a wise approach.
I hear "Auld Lang Syne" being played on the Red-and-White right now which means that things are closing down there.
I'm not typing this as I decompress at the denouement of a New Year's Eve party. I'm at home in my PJs while the television is showing the rerun of the annual NHK Red-and-White Song Festival. My parents are taping the 4.75-hour extravaganza and don't know how to use the timer function on the VCR (yes, we still have that contraption). Therefore, I must stay awake until 2 a.m. when the show finally finishes up. The White (Men's) Team won....and pretty handily, I must say. The Red (Women's) Team had a few problems amongst its participants. I wouldn't say that singers like Ayumi Hamasaki and Mika Nakashima were solely responsible for their team losing, but they certainly didn't help with some wretchedly off-tune performances. My face automatically scrunched up at the aural horror unleashed upon me, and my brain wholly wished that the Japanese would invent an Auto-Tune microphone for these two if they are ever asked back. It was nice seeing Princess Princess getting a final chance on stage on their first, only, and final appearance at the festival.
Earlier today, I went out with The Wild Guy and his family to a mutual friend's house out on the West End for some lunch. Our host was nice to create a Chinese-themed meal....considering the spread she put out, it would've cost close to $40 if we'd had the same thing at a restaurant in Yokohama easily. I only had to pay with a contribution of Laura Secord.
I've been back in Canada now for a year and two weeks. It's been a transitional period although it hasn't had anything to do with any difficulty in settling back into life in the hometown. I've been quite comfortable here. However, over the last 12 months, I've seen myself shift out of teaching, something that I've done for a quarter of a century, and into translating and writing on a couple of blogs. What has kept things connected for me between Japan and Canada is social media. With sites such as Facebook, I have been able to keep pretty good contact with my old friends in Tokyo and Chiba, even though I can no longer meet them in person for the foreseeable future. Being back in Toronto, though, I've also experienced the realization that some of my old friends have become more distant due to family responsibilities and proximity, but other friends have become closer. Certainly, the Anime King is one such fellow and I have gotten a good grounding in what has been popular in the otaku field in my time back home....something that I probably wouldn't have had in the birthplace of anime itself due to the ever-present stigma. Being in a 'foreign' country has provided some measure of sanctuary. Strangely enough, the King is currently traveling in Japan right now and won't be back for a few more weeks.
Not sure what 2013 has in store for me. I can assume that translation will continue to be my new main source of income while people like Mr. Moriya and Swank will provide me with some wisps of my main professional life....at least for a little while. I actually did a quick proofread of the latter student's application letter a couple of nights ago. She was quite appreciative of my efforts on the sudden request....I was surprised to get a far more generous deposit in my account than I warranted. One of my old friends, whom I hadn't seen in several years, said that she would try to set me up with a friend of hers. Hmmmm....I did ask to warn her friend that I was a burgeoning otaku/geek, but of course, she didn't reply to that. Well, I'll apply the same principle in this situation that I will apply to this year: Be hopeful but not expectant. Certainly when it comes to Toronto's professional sports teams, that is also a wise approach.
I hear "Auld Lang Syne" being played on the Red-and-White right now which means that things are closing down there.
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