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.

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)

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.

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.

Fun and Work

Monday March 4, 2:30 p.m.

Well, just to link back to what I'd said last entry....I should've knocked on wood a bit harder. As soon as I mentioned that I would be having a slight respite from all that translating, a big assignment landed on my lap which I've finally completed for hand-in tonight. But I'd also mentioned that that textbook wouldn't get to Mr. Moriya in time?.....well, it got just there in the nick of it, miraculously enough.

However, I was able to spend some time enjoying more ramen at Kinton on Friday afternoon. As usual, I was the first one in line at about 11:10 a.m. Believe me, I don't mean to be so early but I don't really have a very good temporal sense so I always err on the side of caution. Luckily, all three of my ramen companions showed up in plenty of time. We got the Kyushu table right at the front. And as usual, it didn't take long for the place to get filled up. I could actually eat the Extra Pork Ramen with a sampling of gyoza and karaage without re-enacting one of the climactic scenes of "Alien". Then, it was up to the Second Cup across from U of T for a bit of coffee, conversation and digestion.

On Sunday, it was the usual get-together with The Anime King for a round of food and anime. Did Asian Legend for lunch and then that Chinese hot pot place on McNicoll for dinner. That hot place wasn't too bad but unfortunately, the chicken was pretty chintzy. I get far more stuff on the bones in my mother's hot pot.

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.

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.

Family Day, Foodie Weekend

Wednesday February 20, 12:23 p.m.

Been a while. Being away all those years, I still need to be reminded that, yes, there is an actual long weekend in February now....at least for 3 provinces in this country. And I think having the Family Day Weekend is a necessity during a time of year when Xmas is long past us and Winter has outgrown its welcome.

Certainly, this past Saturday gave us a good reminder why Ol' Man Winter needs to get going. Although, the weather on that day was not quite the big storm from a couple of weeks ago, the snow and winds made for some treacherous driving on the highways...which is why I felt a little badly that my old friends, CG and The Entrepreneur with respective families in tow, came to my neck of the woods for a brief dinner at a place called Congee Star in the Don Mills and Eglinton area. When we had made the plans to meet up, there wasn't too much of a sign of the nutso weather, but still, it was very good of them to trudge on up all the way from the West End of town. It was brief....about a couple of hours since the kids were still very young, but it was good to chat for a while over har gow and brisket. I'll definitely head over to Mississauga next time since the two of them have raved about this restaurant called Spoon and Fork.

Sunday was the official Family Day for my clan. We decided on doing The Keg up on Leslie. I made reservations which was the smartest thing to do since when we got there at 6 pm, there was a ton of folks waiting to get a table....and the parking was something reminiscent of Yorkdale Plaza on Xmas Eve. I don't think I've had a Keg steak in a few years....went for the Baseball Top Sirloin. I wasn't disappointed; my steak looked like a slab of beef with a thyroid condition. Definitely not the definition of a Kobe steak. It was thick, juicy and was seasoned quite well. Just the right amount of salt and pepper...which probably means that it was still too much. Thick steak isn't exactly popular with a number of Japanese....they like their beef thin and melt-in-your-mouth, kinda like sukiyaki. I've told my old students in the past that here in the Americas, chewing a bite for several seconds before swallowing is part of the pleasure of enjoying a good steak. I don't think I saw that many shrugs in one room before.

Then on the holiday Monday was the biweekly meeting with The Anime King. We just can't seem to catch a break with The Olde York Fish N' Chips place on Laird. It was closed for Family Day and it's closed regularly on Sundays. So instead it was off to one of our regular Dim Sum places up in Scarberia. Not surprisingly, it was pretty brisk business there. Afterwards, it was the usual mix of Second Cup, Timmies and a few hours of anime before dinner at Tako Sushi nearby. It was my second time there, and I guess because of the Family Day weekend, there was a lineup there to rival that of what I'd witnessed at The Keg. The King didn't make any reservations but it was just a 10-minute wait.

Couldn't get a place at any of the teppanyaki tables like last time, so the two of us settled for a regular booth and the entrees. The King went for his steak dinner while I opted for tonkatsu. Tako Sushi tonkatsu is frankly more thin wiener schnitzel than Japanese deep-fried pork cutlet....which may be why I got three flat wide slabs of the pork. Tonkatsu in Japan is pretty thick stuff with plenty of shredded cabbage; one slab for lunch is enough to keep you sated until dinner. But I'm not gonna get snobby about it since I enjoyed the dinner just the same.

The King and I had a talk about possibly getting as many of the Court together for a bigger dinner, perhaps as soon as early March. But again, a couple of our number are established family men so I have my doubts whether the entire group can get together but it'll still be nice to have a group outing that doesn't involve a Ribfest. Perhaps The Baton Rouge may be the venue.

Back in the regular work week. I actually got an assignment done for translation yesterday. And I sent the invoice to Cozy for the first of the annual financial statements. Was a bit disappointed that I didn't get too many more during the two weeks that I kept open for him, so I'm potentially gonna have to deal with both Cozy's requests and those of the translation company.

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.

Calm Before The Storm

Thursday February 7, 3:09 p.m.

It's been an enervating and energetic past few days for me. As Cozy has been a bit delayed in some of those financial statements to be translated, I've been lucky to get work from my regular gig this week, and I did get a nice healthy check to be deposited in the old account. Still, with the precision needed with this work, I could use a massage AND a nap just about now. As for the energetic part, I've gotten a couple of guest contributors for my Japanese music blog, Kayo Kyoku Plus, and they've been absolutely great with their articles. They're covering artists that I've never covered which means that I have a good chance to discover new singers. It's good talking with folks that share my admittedly niche interest, and I don't feel as much pressure to get a couple of songs up there everyday. I've had some good talks with each of them via e-mail about the wonders of kayo kyoku.

Calm before the storm? Ah, yes, Toronto and much of Southern Ontario is supposed to be socked with about 15~20 cm of the white stuff starting from tonight. So, the big news on the news channels highlights the salting trucks and the weather map. Tokyo was gonna get walloped by a second major snowstorm but it turned out to be a mostly false alarm. Some flakes did fall on The Big Sushi, but here in Toronto, we eat those flakes for a light snack. I'm just glad that I don't need to commute anymore. Although if it's as bad as they're forecasting, I think most people will be more than happy to take a sick day on a Friday.

Looks like I've got another Santouka run next Tuesday with another ramen buddy of mine. The two of us got together more than a year ago for ramen (we've gotten together a few times over the months but with his family and not for ramen) at Kenzo but nothing since then. One of my old students who's now living with his family in California recommended the toroniku ramen with pork cheeks. I did see a page devoted to that type in the menu last Friday, so hey, why not? Plenty of cholesterol to go around.

I got a call out of the blue from another old friend yesterday. Looks like he and his family had gotten bogged down by the flu over The Holidays which would explain why I didn't hear much from him for the past few months. But it sounded like he's hale and hearty again, so hopefully we can all get together for lunch or dinner in the next few weeks.....provided I can shovel out of the snow.

It looks like my Skype student will be continuing on with me. Very grateful for that but I have to find a certain textbook for him. I'll be doing my scouring via Amazon or going downtown to the various bookshops.

All's Happy in Training

Friday February 1, 9:36 a.m.

Yup, definitely back to a normal Winter day here. As I type this, it's about -10 C outside, compared to the heady heights of +14 C on Wednesday.

I was watching NHK News today and the sports report mostly centered on Japanese baseball training camps in Okinawa which started yesterday. Looks like everyone's happy there....perhaps the Okinawan government should even declare the opening of training a regional statutory holiday. All of the fans were there with their cameras, cellphone-type or otherwise. The one guy who seemed to be getting the focus was a strapping young lad by the name of Otani...all of 18 and although perhaps not as tall as the beanpole Yu Darvish, he still has quite the physical presence. And ambition....he has said he wants to reach the Major Leagues someday. If he's that good, he can now probably get there within a decade.

The whole spectacle reminds me of just a couple of weeks ago when the NHL strike was over, and hockey fans descended on the Leafs truncated training. And the Leafs won at home over the struggling Caps last night...and it was a come-from-behind win, too. So, it seems that the big key here is consistency and making sure that there are no more injuries on the team.

For the first time in a few weeks, I've got no translation issues to worry about. I handed in the first of the annual translations to Cozy last night and am waiting for any further comments from the regular boss. Initial reviews have been good; the editor hasn't lost that much hair this time.

Well, I'll be heading downtown for the first time this year. Will be meeting Sam for lunch. May actually pick up some Chicken Parmagiana sandwiches over at The Carousel Bakery at St. Lawrence Market later on for the parents.

Topsy-Turvy Temperatures of Toronto

Wednesday Jan 30 at +14 C

Thursday January 31, 4:47 p.m.

Gotta say that the picture on the left doesn't really do the weather yesterday justice. But after last week's deep freeze where the average temperature was hovering around -12 C, to experience a temp that was 26 degrees higher was almost overwhelmingly giddy. Toronto weather has always been a bit on the weird side no matter what time of the year, but even yesterday was cause for Torontonians to scratch their heads....or just walk to work in T-shirts and shorts. Taking a walk around the neighbourhood meant that the only obstacle was mud and not ice.

Thursday Jan 31 at -3 C

Then, this morning when I went outside, I was buffeted by some high winds and some major flurries....and a temperature of -3 C! Talk about getting the runaround. I wouldn't have believed that there were less than 24 hours between the two pictures if I hadn't actually experienced the two scenes.

Of course, all this extreme weather has meant consequences on the city's aging infrastructure. Water pipes burst and giant sinkholes emerged out of nowhere. And Toronto City Hall is trying to figure out where to get the funds to do all this repair.




Well, in any case, I'm feeling a bit antsy since I handed in the big translation project last night, and have got not all that much to do right now. Mind you, I do have that small financial statement translation to hand in for Cozy, but I got the basic translation done this morning. I just have to ask him a few questions on some vocab, and I should be OK to give the final draft.

Snow, Rain, Fog....Next, Locusts?

Tuesday January 29, 4:08 p.m.

Back in my Japan days, I often told students about the wacky nature of Toronto weather, and sometimes I did tend to embellish things a bit, although it wasn't by much. But I gotta say that yesterday was an exaggeration come true. Snow in the overnight hours, followed by sleet in the morning, full-blown rain in the afternoon and then fog last night. I can now honestly say that weather is indeed certifiably insane in this city. And it ain't over by a longshot. It's absolutely balmy today at +9 C, but we're getting even hotter tomorrow with a double-digit high of +12 C! Of course, Thursday will have a high of just -2....the temperature will plummet faster than Wile E. Coyote off a cliff.

I've finally got another epic translation done, and this time with more than 24 hours on the clock before deadline, so I've got a chance to give it a very decent going-over before the hand-in. And I got a good deal of practice on TRADOS. Still not too crazy about it but I feel I've got a fairly good bearing on it now. And at least, I can get a good start on Cozy's annual translation of his statements.

I received a couple of contacts from friends yesterday. One was from Sam who wanted to see if I were interested in having a Winterlicious meal with him sometime this week. Not sure if it's lunch or dinner. Winterlicious is one-half of that annual Toronto foodie festival, along with Summerlicious, that was borne from the SARS scare of a decade ago when restaurants were struggling to survive from lack of customers; so fairly high-falutin' restaurants decided to have weeklong specials at reasonable prix fixe to attract the skittish but culinarily curious hordes. It was a good way to get the food business back into the swing of things, but I wonder if it should've just stayed a one-shot injection into the arm instead of the chronic care it has become. People have been complaining that these currently healthy restaurants have been serving sub-standard fare at those fixed prices in a crazily crowded environment. I didn't bother going to any of the designated restaurants since even at prix fixe, I really couldn't see myself paying the prices they still demanded. I'm still not even sure now, but I did ask Sam what he was interested in trying out.

The other contact was the bi-weekly phone call from The Anime King. Had a good talk on the Precure franchise, since the current series in the franchise finished its run a couple of days ago. According to my friend, it was fine but nothing too awe-inspiring. But the new series starts on the ground running from this Sunday. Told him that I wasn't too sure about meeting him this coming Sunday since it's possible that my brother's family may be coming over, but I'm keeping Saturday open as an option since the two of us have wanted to head on out to The Olde York Fish N' Chips shop; it's open on Saturday but not on Sunday. It'll have to be a truncated outing with him, though, since I also have my Skype student on that night. Speaking of which, I got some souvenirs from him via the mail yesterday from his Holiday trip to Taiwan.

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.

A Week of Translation

Friday January 25, 11:13 p.m.

It's been another week of slogging through translation work. But at least it's steady work. I've not only gotten a major assignment right now from the current company I'm working for, but I've also got my first of my annual translation requests from my old student, Cozy, back in Tokyo. It's the first of the financial statements. It doesn't look too, too difficult and it won't be due until next weekend.

I think aside from the Sunday foodie-and-anime outing last weekend, I've basically been staying in my neighbourhood for the past 3 weeks. Haven't even been downtown since the year began. Not that I'm going stir-crazy or anything, and it's always better to earn more money than spend it. Certainly, I'm not too thrilled about paying more for the TTC.

Weatherwise, as I always liked to say to my students in Japan, Toronto is always predictably unpredictable, especially in the Winter. We've just gone through a major deep freeze this week; in a slightly masochistic way, it was nice to have felt -22-degree wind chills. However, by early next week, we may be soaring into the double digits...in the plus zone....for a day or so....before we get back down to Earth once more.

As for the Leafs.....I think it's gonna be another one of those rocky (though truncated) seasons. They've won 2 on the road and lost 2 at home. Sometimes the Leafs want to play, sometimes they don't.....not exactly the right frame of mind for a team that wants to get into the playoffs for the first time in almost a decade.

Charlie and Wayne

courtesy of maurisico
from Flickr

courtesy of M. D'Evreux
from Flickr

Wednesday January 23, 2:43 p.m.

Yesterday was a marathon session to get that mammoth translation assignment in on time. Gave myself some virtually permanent katakori by tapping away at the keyboard for hours. And sure enough, I have another big assignment due next week. But ain't touching that today....nope, gonna give myself a bit of a break. Mind you, if I had to be cocooned in the apartment, it would've been and should've been yesterday. It was rather cold out there with a high of only -12 C

But I couldn't just stay at home all day today....would've gone stir crazy. And so with it being -18 C this morning, I had my first experience of really cold weather for the first time in decades. It was bracing out there although I was fully equipped, tonsorially speaking. Had the scarf and longjohns on. It was rather nice, though, walking through that cold. Felt positively Canadian again.

Now, as for the title today. I heard and saw a couple of stories....one which is true, one which is not (at least not for now or the near future). First, the true one. Apparently the voice actor behind Charlie Brown was nabbed by police....for stalking, of all things. This is probably gonna be a dream target for the late night show hosts. And strangely enough, couldn't you see perpetually depressed Charlie Brown growing up to become a stalker? His obsession with the Little Red-Haired Girl going to extremes? In any case, I can imagine if some reporter were able to stick a microphone in the actor-turned-jailbird's face, the first thing he probably would say, "RATS"! That is, after he got nabbed by the cops when he exclaimed, "AAAAAAUUUUUGGGGGGH!"

The other story that got Toronto going crazy like a fox was the rumour that The Great One himself, Wayne Gretzky, could become the next President of the Maple Leafs, occupying the place left by ousted Brian Burke. Not sure how this one got started, but it was probably a reporter who just decided to throw something into the mix when he/she was interviewing one of the new powers-that-be of the hockey team. I was too busy and stressed out yesterday to catch TV but apparently the media was having a field day with it. But can you imagine Gretzky, the best hockey player in NHL history and with his record as a businessman in the sport, coming to this town....the so-called Mecca of Hockey? Just hard for me to imagine a guy like him leaving the sunny confines of California in happy retirement, though. But then again, if someone finally gets him that money from the Phoenix Coyotes, perhaps he could see Toronto as the ultimate challenge worthy of his talents and time.

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.

Facebook, Face Music?

Monday January 14, 10:46 p.m.

I've been getting some reports and more photos of the Snow That Swallowed Tokyo via Facebook. It looks like the trains have been reporting some delays but things are moving surprisingly well. Good to hear. Still, one of my old buddies over there has been reporting that certain drivers have deigned not to switch over to chains or snow tires under the circumstances, so accidents are probably occurring. Y'know, guys....the trains are still really good there.

I read an article in "The Toronto Star" about how some people are trying to quit social networking sites such as the aforementioned FB and Twitter because they're suffering some form of fatigue or they want to show the world that, yes, they no longer want to act as if they were beholden to a digital god. And so they do so....and come sneaking back when they have those Internet withdrawal symptoms. For me, I have no problems with FB or Twitter. Facebook has been my public plaza of sorts with all the pictures and all of the FB friends showing up en masse, and since the vast majority of them are in far-flung places, it's nice to be able to keep in touch with them, even digitally. There is of course some of the personal security issues that Mark Zuckerberg seems to have some problems with, but again in my case, I don't particularly put up photos of people too much, and if any photos of me end up anywhere, I would actually take that as a compliment....as long as the site isn't some fat fetish page. For a guy who still needs to know about what's been happening in Japan (such as yesterday's storm), FB has been OK by me.