Spring Supposedly

Monday March 18, 12:02 p.m.

Well, rumour has it that Spring is on its way, but despite the expert opinion of several large lumbering rodents in February, it's still gonna be plenty chilly here for this week. Plus, we've got some messy weather on the way as of 4 this afternoon. So, there may be some Vernal enthusiasts who are thinking up of some evil plots to cook groundhog.

Team Japan just lost to Puerto Rico in the semi-finals of the World Baseball Classic in San Francisco, I believe. Probably a lot of disappointed folks over in Japan right now but after winning the first two championships, the country has nothing to be ashamed about. Plus, they can start back on how to regain the big prize for next time, and I think that's always more fun for everyone involved rather than trying to defend a championship.

Had my brother's family over for dinner last night. The usual pleasant time involved, including playing with my niece. But we did have one casualty in the form of the coffee carafe which ended its long life by cracking and pouring some fresh brewed onto the kitchen floor. Mom seemed to be quite eager in getting a new coffeemaker anyways.

Just been taking care of some invoicing and awaiting my next translation assignment which should be in sometime over the next few hours.

Looks like Pope Francis I is having an immediate effect on the world at large with his charm and Gorbachevian openness. I think Pope Benedict XVI is probably grumbling and muttering, "Dang whippersnapper!" And apparently, the leader of the Orthodox Christians is even gonna attend tomorrow's Papal Inauguration for the first time in a millenium. Rather unorthodox, if you ask me. (thank you, I play Vegas til Friday)

Francis the Humble Pope

Friday March 15, 3:16 p.m.

I was just a minute away from having a perfect 3/15 3:15. Beware the Ides of March! Thought I'd throw that in as well.

In any case, I've gone through another muscle-aching round of translations for this week. A lot of my upper-body muscles are feeling properly sore including the one between my ears. I can't really divulge the contents of the source, only to say that it involves tourism, and tourism projects always involve very flowery language. Rather obvious thing to say, even to those not in the translation business, but it's never a straight one-to-one bilingual transliteration; there's always some detective work about what the client really wants to be said. But I can do it and I can make money out of it.

Anyways, last time I wrote an entry here, it was just before the white smoke billowed out of the world's most famous chimney, Habeas Papum and the emergence of Pope Francis I. There are probably a lot of very happy bettors in Las Vegas who went for the Argentinian....the payoffs must've been huge. There was absolutely no mention of the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio in any media site or paper; he just literally popped up from behind that curtain from nowhere. Mind you, Chris Cuomo of CNN is probably being even more obnoxious about the fact that he was the only one to have even mentioned his possibility in becoming Pope. Well, in any case, Francis is getting his honeymoon period right now and the world media is talking about how humble and pious he had been in his native Argentina. We shall see what happens after his Inauguration Mass this weekend.

Yesterday, while Pope Francis I was probably lining up to get his Big Mac Meal at the Vatican Golden Arches (again, humility), I was having lunch with Shard at Kinton Ramen downtown. I was back at the counter again which I actually do prefer instead of the Kyushu table at the front. I went for the regular Shio Ramen while Shard went for Miso. It's been interesting going out with different folks in my last three visits to Kinton. Back on Boxing Day, it was with one member of the Anime Court and Automan in which the conversation was pretty regular, while with The Wild Guy and The Banker and Egg a few weeks ago, it was more business-oriented. Yesterday, Shard, who has a deep interest in design, got into the nitty-gritty of the decor inside and outside of the restaurant. I think I have a deeper appreciation of all of the wood that was sacrificed for the place. I'm happy that Shard enjoyed his ramen and the surroundings. My bowl just had a bit of a rancid whiff of pork which was not that great but the karaage chicken was crunchy and juicy at the same time. And the two of us ended up getting recruited into the restaurant's Kinton Bowler program in which if we drain our bowls over the next 10 visits, Kinton will throw in a free plate of gyoza on our 11th visit....that is, if we don't keel over from cholesterol toxicity at the end of the year.

Of course, after such a rich lunch, we fairly waddled our way over to a Starbucks inside Sick Kids Hospital. Shard informed me of this deal with a coupon for a free Caramel or Hazelnut Macchiatto. As it turned out, it was a bit of a hoax by an uploader, but the staff there had been apprised of the ruse and yet were still smilingly willing to give out the free coffee. The other lesson I learned that is if you decide to get a coffee at a Timmies or a Starbucks during the noon hour, getting one at a hospital atrium or being near a huge atrium in an office building will usually guarantee empty seats for you.

It will be a quiet weekend. No Skype lessons and no outing with The Anime King since he is off to Chicago on a business trip. We did have our biweekly telephone conversation a couple of days ago. However, The Egg contacted me to see about dinner plans for tomorrow. Gotta follow up on that.

And by the way, if any of you are having a bad day, just think about the executives at Carnival Cruises, and you'll feel much better.

Neighbourhood Stuff

Tuesday March 12, 11:16 p.m.

Well, it's been mostly a day of translation and watching the start of the Conclave at the Vatican. I'm not religious by any means but as an observer of world events, it's been interesting watching all the mysterious pomp and circumstance surrounding the choice of a new Pope. And now, SmokeWatch has begun....just love how the media can jargonize even a centuries-old tradition. A chimney is getting more attention than it even gets during Christmas Eve. Of course, nothing came of the first vote as expected, but perhaps tomorrow. However, most folks say the new Pope will appear on Thursday at the earliest.

Got through another round of translation. I got a new assignment of hunting and translating for tomorrow which could be intriguing. It looks like I'm getting into a good groove with my new profession.

Tonight, I actually went to a meeting concerning the unit owners of our development for the first time with Dad. The session involved the presentation of a company coming over to increase the efficiency of our toilets and other fixtures, but we went there to primarily talk with the new property manager about that problem with leakage in the bedroom. Not surprisingly, I was the 2nd-youngest guy there and the questions to the slick presenter were refreshingly direct. To the sales representative's credit, he did a pretty good job and he even went right up to one old fellow whose hearing wasn't too good to explain things as best as he could. Having turned into a major skeptic about most things in life, I wasn't willing to believe everything at first speak so I'm gonna see how the board and residents decide. The jury is out on the manager as well. The regional guy was quite sold on him and made it quite known but the oft-frustrated custodian of our buildings before the new management company came in made it known to my parents that he has no love for this new guy. I did get a straight answer from the regional manager about my problem, but it was unfortunate that the property manager said absolutely nothing to us. Not a good start to me.

And buried in all that stuff about the Conclave and translations and toilet talk was the news that life could have very well existed on Mars after all. Geeks are dancing in the street....or in the basement.

Springing Forward

Friday March 8, 10:54 p.m.

Looking a bit more optimistic out there in the weather department. Went out with Dad and it felt quite warm. Mind you, +1 degree is pretty relative but it was also quite sunny, and things are just looking better for the weekend. Makes one wonder why anyone would like to head down south for March Break. Well, mind you, the folks down there are getting 29 more degrees than we are.

Finished off a good week of translation, and looking forward to a bit of respite perhaps just blogging and watching TV. Spring seems to be coming in and our clocks are gonna be springing forward one hour as of early Sunday morning. But I saw an amazing instance of springing back...from adversity, that is. I woke up this morning to see a bit of that Japan vs. Taiwan game at The World Baseball Classic. Japan was behind 2-0 in the bottom of the 8th when they started to pull off a major upset by tying things up. Then when Taiwan pulled ahead 3-2 at the top of the 9th, Japan just tied things up again before winning for good in the 10th. That is grit. The Leafs have pulled this sort of feat before, and hopefully they will remember to do so in the latter half of this strike-shortened schedule.

Still, not all lightness and heart in Toronto. There was that tragic case of that 5-year-old girl getting struck down and killed by a garbage truck yesterday; the school and surrounding neighbourhood are mourning very deeply. And then at Thistledown Collegiate yesterday, scum actually had the gall...and stupidity...to ooze in and rob two students of their cellphones and fire a bullet at one other kid before taking off and pulling off some more robberies. Luckily, those kids left a pretty good bread crumb trail in the form of their blue Toyota with a fully-recognizable license plate and security camera footage. It's almost as if they were begging to be arrested. And then of course, our walking trouble magnet, Mayor Rob Ford, is back in the news for allegedly groping a former mayoral candidate at a party the night before, although I'm getting the feeling that there may be holes developing in her story. Never a dull day in this city....kinda wish for some, though.

Tokyo Olympics 2020?

courtesy of Jamie Barras
from Flickr

Thursday March 7, 1:22 p.m.

Was watching NHK News this morning. For the past few mornings, the broadcast has been focusing on the IOC's visit to Tokyo to see if Japan's capital is up to hosting the Olympics for a 2nd time since its inaugural shot in 1964. The Games there happened just several months before my birth, so the only record I have of them is a very old, beat-up but huge commemorative magazine and a coin given to me by my late grandfather.

It's been the grand inu-&-kouma show for the gang at IOC. Prime Minister Abe was abnormally cheerful and gave a fairly bizarre first few words in his speech as he persuaded the visiting group to give Tokyo the opportunity. And during a tour around the city, the IOC stopped at some table tennis training facility where table tennis Olympic darling, Ai Fukuhara, was working up a massive sweat pounding away at the table with a huge nailed-on smile that rather unnerved me. I've seen Fukuhara practice on TV, and she has only had the most serious expression during training.

Do I seem a bit skeptical? You bet. When Tokyo was vying for the 2016 Games under former Governor Shintaro Ishihara, it seemed that the only folks interested in getting the Olympics were the folks talking with the IOC about the possibility. 99.9% of the citizens around the country, however, gave a collective yawn, or if they lived in the capital, grumbled about having to head out of the city to avoid the traffic craziness. It's kinda like how a lot of Torontonians felt about having an Olympics come over here....not very excited. I think the Chinese were excited about the 2000 Games and the British were ecstatic about getting the London Olympics, but Toronto?....meh. We're getting the Pan Am Games in a couple of years, and the news hasn't exactly been all that overwhelmingly approving here about those.

In the NHK report, a reporter who's been on the Olympics beat for years, did some man-on-the-street interviews in front of Shimbashi Station in Tokyo, one of the places to be to get the opinion of the common working person. I'm sure there was quite a bit of editing involved for the report since the man was giving out a lot of "Sumimasen"; I could imagine that a lot of the folks probably just wanted to avoid him to avoid the embarrassment of using the English language despite the fact that an interpreter was there on hand. However, he was able to snag a few people and ask them their opinions of an Olympics in their city. And frankly, my impression of their answers was that they were on the polite "Well, it would be n-i-i-i-c-e...." level, but nothing exciting. Now, the Japanese are relatively reserved when dealing with people they're not familiar with, but I think they can be a lot more excited about things they really support, and I didn't see it with those interviewees. The reporter himself observed that Japan certainly has the technology and the logistics, but he was still looking for more spirit behind the bid. And the expression on his face and his tone kinda said that there wasn't a lot of that.

When Japan was bidding for the 1964 Olympics, I could imagine a people who would rally around the flag, as they were already doing for some years just to rebuild their country. That collective oomph didn't need to be generated by an Olympic committee of old folks or the national government; it was already there, ready to be harvested. A Tokyo Olympics would be the globally-sanctioned welcome back for Japan, and the national celebration for the people to say that Japan was becoming healthy again. The Japanese then had something to prove, and any grumbles about traffic and overcrowding probably didn't exist to a great degree since the people had been going through much more hardship. Nowadays, most folks have been accustomed to the good life, even in the last two decades of economic doldrums, so that they will grumble loudly about an international sports event invading their city in terms of what it may do to their surrounding infrastructure for 2 weeks and their tax payments for the 7 years leading up to the Games. Probably a lot of people may feel that there is nothing to prove about their country. Plus, they've got plenty of smaller international sports events such as The World Baseball Classic or the numerous running marathons, they would say.

It's possible that people could be brought together on behalf of all those who have suffered from the 2011 Earthquake/Tsunami/Nuclear Disaster. Obviously that was an environmental maelstrom that had international coverage and its effects were felt well beyond the Tohoku region. However, I'm not sure if even something of that magnitude would rally people around an Olympic bid these days. Some people in the quake-ravaged areas may question the sense of spending money on a sports event years down the line when there is still so much that needs to be done in the short-term alone. Some Tokyoites may wonder about the sense of supporting an Olympic bid just because a totally separate area got wrecked. But then again, the Tohoku may reap dividends from the fact that thousands of foreign tourists may visit the area during their time attending the Games.

But it all comes down to how much the Japanese want the Games. That reporter stated something that stuck in my head: "The IOC won't give the Games to a city that doesn't want them." I think the next 6 months will be critical to see how much Tokyo and Japan want them.

Hopefully, a quantum of solace today....

Thursday February 28, 10:42 a.m.

No real allusions to the relatively worst of the current Daniel Craig Bond movies....just would like to have a brief respite from the translation work. However, I still have to think about what to do with my Skype student on Saturday night since basically it is assumed that the new textbook will not reach him in time for the next lesson. I have some ideas...just hope that they haven't already been utilized sometime over the past 2 years.

Yesterday, Toronto did get another walloping of snow. However, although it didn't quite live up to the sturm und drang of a couple of weeks ago, the fact that it was heavy wet snow made things a nightmare for commuters, and even for me. I only had to walk across the street to the nearest convenience store for a paper but I distinctly had to make several chess knight-like moves to avoid the worst of the glacial quicksand. Speaking with The Anime King last night, he told me that he literally had had to move through and around slushy lakes to and from work. It also became a prime part of the newscast last night as well.

Well, the world loses a Pope today due to retirement and not death for the first time in 600 years. Of course, there is all the pomp and circumstance that the media outlets can provide. It looks like the next half-month can be depended on for non-stop coverage of the crowning of a new Pontiff. Perhaps CNN should change its full name to the "Catholic News Network" for the interim. Hey, maybe if Cardinal Oullet does become the first Canadian Pope, he could be called Pope Mackenzie A(rimshot!)

Speaking about losing, the Leafs dropped one to the Canadiens last night. I took a brief look when the game was still tied at 2-2, but then apparently the bottom fell out at the ACC. I hope Randy Carlyle gave a good verbal whopping to the troops. I also hope that this isn't the beginning of another mid-season collapse that's become all too much of a custom in Toronto. It looks like it was generally a bad day for local team sports. The Blue Jays got eviscerated in Dunedin and I think the Raptors lost as well.

Getting back to Bond, that limp 007 tribute at the Oscars on Sunday apparently got someone to make a superior brand of tribute on YouTube. Dark Horizons.com thought it good enough to show on their website. I don't think it's quite the grand slam homer but it's a definite improvement and at least it has actual quotes. For me, it would've been even better if instead of just the theme from "Skyfall", the other classic original themes from entries like "Goldfinger", "Live and Let Die" and "From Russia With Love" could've also been inserted.

Triumph Comes Home

Friday February 15, 10:24 a.m.

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.

The comments by the unbelievably exhausted, frustrated and disgusted customers are definitely not something the management wanted to hear: "I'm just so glad to be off the ship". As someone who was on his first cruise aboard The Oasis of the Seas via Royal Caribbean last year, I can't even imagine the hell these poor folks went through. They paid for something high-class; instead they got an experience in what abject poverty is like in a number of developing countries. Sewage in the corridors and on the walls? I couldn't even imagine what my family would have done if something similar had befallen The Oasis.

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.

AAUUUGGGGGHHHHHH! The Sky is Falling!

Friday February 15, 10:05 a.m.

Woke up a couple of hours ago to see this being featured on NHK News:

Yep, some meteor decided to drop in unannounced over the Urals. It pretty much took over the media airwaves all over the planet....even CNN which had been blanketing the most-covered cruise ship arrival in history. I think the only thing that was missing from the coverage was some John Williams music and a dark screen with the credits: "A movie by J.J. Abrams". Heck, one video of the approaching meteor even had the typical Abrams lens flare.

Apparently, this kitchen table-sized meteor slammed into the atmosphere at a breezy 33,000 mph and left a 6-metre-wide hole along with countless shattered windows and 1,000 injured of which 1% are in bad shape.

It's interesting that this piece of space rock comes roaring down several hours before a very close asteroid fly-by at about 1430 hours EST today. Things that make one go Hmmmmm! I wonder if we may actually get our very first blockbuster of the year.

Hair Gone...and so is the Pope

Monday February 11, 9:34 p.m.

After letting my hair go into a shag for over 3 months, I finally made the trip down to Spadina and to that barber shop, Monsieur, to get my hair cut into something more reasonable. It was my second trip down there and things worked out very well. I'm starting to get really tempted to try some of their other services such as a massage or even a shave.

The weather is quite a bit warmer when compared to Friday when the huge storm barreled in. So it was relatively pleasant at 1 degree, but boy the curbs were flooded. I was looking at lakes while trying to cross the streets. My shoes and socks were partial casualties.

Before I left for downtown, I had been watching the news concerning Pope Benedict XVI's retirement announcement. Supposedly, there hasn't been a papal resignation in almost 600 years, so the former and soon-to-be once again Cardinal Ratzinger pulled off a bold move and managed to upstage any news about the weather craziness in the States and that rogue ex-cop in California. Of course, the news media here have been playing up the possibility of having the first Canadian Pope but I think the chances are better for the Catholic World's first African Pope.

Managed to crunch through another translation assignment worth a few hours work. I told the boss that I wouldn't be available for the next couple of days. There has been some give and take among myself, CG and The Entrepreneur about getting together on Saturday for an early dinner. Most of the snags in the schedule have to do with the kids. But I think things will get settled down easily.

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.

Courtesy of Darth Ray
from Flickr

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.

courtesy of Naomi Roper
from Flickr

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.

Nice to be at home

Friday February 8, 1:28 p.m.

Well, there truly was a calm before the storm last night. There was a nice fresh coating on the ground after 9 pm, but there was nothing falling. It looked like a nice Christmas-y moment. However, this morning, the snow was coming down steadily and heavily, although traffic on my street looked pretty smooth. I even saw two TTC buses pass by within about 5 minutes of each other, which is very good on a snow day.

I took a walk outside but just around the block, since wearing heavy boots and trudging through several centimetres of the white stuff has a tendency to tucker me out fairly quickly now. Maybe someone can make a seasonal exercise regimen out of it, although I can imagine Emergency Services picking up people out of snowbanks. At least in my neck of the woods, the storm is really just a batch of really heavy snow. The winds aren't blowing all that much here, and aside from the trudging, it was a pretty nice walk. Plus, the sound-muffling qualities of freshly-fallen snow always give an eerie feel to any stroll in a quieter neighbourhood.

Speaking about Christmas, it kinda feels like I am currently in that time period. Usually when I just came for the Holidays, I had friends here in Toronto all calling or e-mailing me for that lunch or dinner somewhere in the GTA. Well, my old friend The Egg contacted me to see if I were up for something next week. I told him about my upcoming lunch with my other ramen buddy next Tuesday at Santouka, so I'm seeing if he'll be up for that. The Egg is also pretty big for Japanese food, so all these izakayas and ramen shops that have been popping up like mushrooms are manna from heaven for him. And my call from The Entrepreneur the other day and my subsequent e-mail over to CG may translate to a lunch or dinner outing in the west end of town soon. Apparently, there's some restaurant chain called Fork And Spoon that's a mutual favourite of theirs. I'm not too willing to go all the way into deepest, darkest Oakville for a meal since that's where the both of them live, but I gave a counter-proposal in the form of the chain's Etobicoke branch which would only entail a purely TTC subway and bus ride.

Newswise, of course, locally, it's been all about the snowstorm of the season, and all those cars slip-slidin' away like billiard balls. However, I've also been keeping an eye on that story in southern California where this rogue ex-cop, Christopher Dorner, has been terrorizing the LAPD with three killings and the threat of even more mayhem. It just sounds like a screenplay from a Steven Seagal movie. At this point, Dorner may be holed up in a remote wooded area which is good for the public at large. My main worry would be if he somehow evaded the dragnet and headed back into the city. With the Grammys coming up this weekend, an insane ex-cop and Navy reservist who is aiming for the cops would make things very dicey for a Hollywood high-security event like that.

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.

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.

Changes

courtesy of
canburak
 

Friday December 28, 7:46 p.m. (All photos from Flickr)

Since Jack Klugman's passing, there have been a few more departures from this mortal coil. The King of Character Actors (what the press releases have been describing him as), Charles Durning, passed away. Usually with the prolific and respected character actors, viewers will point, snap fingers and exclaim "OH! Where did I see him? What was his name again?" But with Charles Durning, a lot of times people would known him by face and name. He's played many, many roles but I will always see him as the burly cop....both bad and good.

courtesy of
jpequal1

I knew General H. Norman Schwarzkopf from Desert Storm, of course. And of course, the media were more than happy to give out tons of details about him. Had no idea that the man had been sick, but it's been years since I had heard anything about him. Obviously, CNN, BBC, CBC will be talking about his military achievements and how he earned his stars. But for me, I remember a story about the time he proposed to his then-girlfriend by stating plainly that she would probably never get rich marrying him but that he promised he would keep a steady roof over their heads.

courtesy of billh

And then I was surprised to hear about the reluctant father of Supermarionation, Gerry Anderson, passing away. I was never a fan of "Thunderbirds" or the other examples of marionettes playing military heroes, and supposedly he wasn't too thrilled, either. But the theme song and "Thunderbirds are GO!" are etched into my memory. "Thunderbirds" is practically a legend in Japan.
But there were also his live-action series such as "UFO" and "Space: 1999" which were also part of my childhood growing up. The former often scared the bejeebers out of me and the latter thrilled me in the pre-"Star Wars" era. And being somewhat attuned to theme songs, both of those programs' songs are still pretty fresh in my minds.

I mean, especially with the theme for "Space: 1999", there must've been some serious ganja being passed around in the scoring room to come up with that theme....even in the era of progressive rock. Brilliant! Too bad the show hasn't dated all that well.

And since it is a Friday....and in the middle of The Holidays, for that matter....why not a disco mix?

A Carol for Another Christmas

Saturday December 22, 7:27 p.m.

Turner Classic Movies have done it again. The channel pulled out another movie that hadn't seen the light of day publicly in almost half a century, and has aired it twice: last Saturday and today. I was just lucky that I put it on just 10 minutes into the coverage.

"A Carol for Another Christmas" is Rod Serling's 1964 modern take on "A Christmas Carol" via a television movie. Basically, it comes out as an extended episode of "The Twilight Zone", Serling's masterpiece. Even at the time, it was boasted as an all-star production about how one embittered Daniel Grudge rails for American non-interventionalism years after his son is killed in battle. And that's when the Ghosts of Christmases come in. Basically, it's a promo for the United Nations and the striving for world peace.

Considering the UN's reputation nowadays, my eyes rolled a few loops but it was interesting to see for the star power. I did mention that even at the time it was star-studded, but that didn't include some of the supporting cast who have gone on to become very familiar faces or even screen legends. There was Sterling Hayden, who I remembered as the crazed general in "Dr. Strangelove", and the shocking appearance of singer Steve Lawrence as the tell-it-like-it-is soldier Ghost of Xmas Past. And the stars just kept on rolling in: Eva Marie Saint, James Shigeta, Pat Hingle, Robert Shaw from "To Russia With Love" and "Jaws" as an almost unrecognizable Ghost of Christmas Future, Ben Gazzara, Percy Rodrigues, and the stunner....Peter Sellers as a loony leader with an American accent in a post-apocalyptic civilization. All on TV, shown just once. It was basically done as a stageplay with large sets and stage as it was done way back in the early days of television, and the sermonizing was laid on pretty thick, especially by a considerably slimmer Hingle as the gluttonous Present. And Steve Lawrence seemed to have been channeling Captain Kirk's cadence, a full 2 years before that character actually made it to screen.

Definitely an interesting take on the Scrooge tale. And it's notable that there hasn't been any videos of it on YouTube, except for the Henry Mancini theme.

Chained to the Desk

Wednesday December 12, 3:12 p.m.

Well, it's the 12th day of the 12th month of the 12th year of the 21st century. This will be the last time for numerical alliteration for me at least in my lifetime....unless immortality is discovered sometime in the next 50 years.

It's been a bit of a slog over the past few days. Nothing but translation which means I've been pretty much tied to my chair and desk for many hours a day since Monday. Not too bad, but I'm happy that I'll get a chance to get out tomorrow and Friday. I've gotta get some Christmas stuff done over the next couple of days....plus get a flu shot nearby.

Had lunch at the neighbourhood Pizza Hut yesterday since my parents were out all day. Quite a few more customers in there than usual, but that just meant that the place was one-third full. Perhaps the nights are brimming with pizza lovers, but I can't honestly believe how long this branch has stayed open with the seeming emptiness of the place. They had their buffet on so I was able to have my 6 slices of various types of pizza, plus a couple of runs to the salad bar for salad, pasta and garlic bread. Believe me, I am semi-retired now when it comes to engorging. It's one of the things I'm grateful for since returning to Canada last year since except for one particular franchise, none of the big pizza chains in Japan have sit-down restaurants; it's all delivery there. That one lone franchise is a domestic deal named Pizza Salvatore, and it's an expensive one....$35 for a medium pizza! Quality fare, though.

Speaking about Japan, the other shoe finally dropped across the Japan Sea. North Korea finally fired off that missile yesterday to much fanfare and celebration in the Hermit Kingdom of Kim Jong Un. CNN reported that the missile flew over Okinawa but Japan didn't fire a shot. NHK told a somewhat different story by showing that the missile actually went due south...perhaps shaving over the very southernmost little island in the Ryukyus. If we're to follow NHK's report, then Taiwan or The Phillipines had more of an issue to shake their fists than Japan did.

That tunnel collapsing in Yamanashi Prefecture got me thinking about the state of Toronto's Gardiner Expressway. Today, the news outlets here have been talking about the report that the decrepit highway may be in even worse shape than was previously thought. I'm just wondering when we're gonna get that CP24 Breaking News of cars falling through the pavement.

And I hear that Mayor Rob Ford has cancelled his annual New Year's Levee at City Hall. Gee, I wonder why....

Translation Done & Skyfall

Thursday November 8, 12:11 p.m.

Well, completed an all-day translation stint assigned by the boss yesterday. Was glad to get that done. Trados is still a bit of a monster to contend with at times. I haven't heard anything from him since I handed it in late last night, but he told me that there may be some pretty big projects coming in soon. But in the meantime, I will enjoy my possibly brief respite.

I've been hearing some good buzz about the latest 007 movie, "Skyfall". It's coming out on Friday; considering whether to catch it in the morning since I'll be seeing Sam and Ed for dinner later that day. Plus, I get to stick it to ol' MB back in Japan since he's the biggest James Bond fan that side of the Pacific.

All seems to be quiet on the White House front after Obama's supposed stunning victory back on Tuesday. However, he's gonna have to contend with this Fiscal Cliff and even more immediately, the disaster in New York and New Jersey. The poor people there had gotten walloped by Sandy last week, and now they've been assaulted again by a nor'easter. And speaking about assaulted, what is up with Donald Trump? I used to respect the guy for his candor and his resilience in terms of his ability to come back from financial adversity, but now he just seems to be ranting like dictators on the verge of getting their comeuppance.

Obama Wins, I Guess

Tuesday November 6, 11:33 p.m.

Well, Barack Obama just got re-elected. I think a lot of people were expecting a bit more of a titanic struggle between him and Mitt Romney. In fact, the more pitched battle seems to be taking place amongst the talking heads at CNN right now about what Obama should do during his 2nd term. Still, CNN and the other networks did their best to keep things thrilling. At first, it seemed like the Republican challenger was making some inroads early on but then near the end, Wolf was talking himself hoarse by announcing all those projections for Obama. It was the equivalent of an ace fisherman teasing a battling muskie before definitively landing the monster with a huge wallop.

The most important thing is that the election is now over, and we can get back to some sort of normalcy....at least for another couple of years. Let's see what the man actually does now.

Election Day

Tuesday November 6, 12:07 p.m.

Yep, political junkies....your mega fix is here! After a 2-year gestation period, the American political process is about to give birth to a new President or a new old one. So far, the lineups have been snaking around the block in a lot of neighbourhoods across the United States, especially if their states don't allow early voting.

CNN has been reporting that the turnout may even eclipse that of the 2008 election. But then again, the Obama-McCain race wasn't nearly as tight as this one. This is looking like the electoral equivalent of the Death Star battle in the very first "Star Wars". And whoever wins will have to face another polarized electorate....and perhaps even a repeat of the 2000 kerfuffle between Gore and Bush Jr. So, whoever wins loses....at least initially.

Should be fun to watch tonight, though. In the land that begat Hollywood, it seems to make a sort of sense that Election Day in America takes on the eye-blinding glow of an international pop cultural mega-event. I'm sure if things get really tight, the CNN folks like Wolf, Anderson and Candy will be popping nicotine and caffeine.

The Worst Is Yet to Come?

Monday October 29, 10:50 p.m.

Well, today wasn't too bad although the winds did pick up and there was a steady if slight rain coming down onto Toronto. I mean, getting off at my bus stop and walking home didn't even require opening an umbrella....not that it would've made much difference since the winds were such that they would've crumpled my old brolley. Not sure what it will be like tomorrow, though. I've been keeping the channel on CNN so I've been watching Anderson again being tossed around like a matchstick in a wind tunnel. Looks like New York City has been getting walloped by Sandy with the NYSE under 3 ft. of water.

The teaching today for a full day went fairly well although all of us were starting to wilt a bit near the end. I've gotten my prep work done and will now be trying to get some shuteye. I haven't heard anything from the school yet about what may happen vis-a-vis Hurricane Sandy.