A sequel to my dearly departed 8-year-old blog, Ä Canuck in Emperor Akihito's Court"(http://haruhiko.blogspot.com). Back home in Canada but still have those ties to Japan after 17 years' residency there.
Not quite yet but the Autumn Colours are starting to form. I think once the nights get plenty cold (starting from tomorrow night, I hear), the leaves should be turning quite vibrant for the next couple of weeks before the inevitable peel off from the branches.
I took my usual hour-long walk and took some pics of the area. I'm lucky to be living in Toronto where even in the city, there are huge swathes of forest. Some people say that Tokyo has the same, but either one has to travel one hour all the way to the western end of the megalopolis to Mt. Takao or settle for the big mass of green in the Shinjuku area. There are parks there but they are very cultivated and tame, nothing like the real forests here in The Big Smoke.
And of course, Tokyo doesn't have the oodles of squirrels that reside in Toronto. I kinda like the critters although some of my acquaintances over the years have referred to them as rats with bushy tails. Yep, I realize that they're not too safe but I generally keep my distance. Y'know....I leave them alone, they leave me alone. There are about 2 or 3 of them at any one time bouncing around the neighbourhood. Unfortunately, I see a number of "former"squirrels on the road as well.
Well, will wonders never cease? After having come back to Toronto after 17 years overseas and thinking that good Chinese takeout was about as alive as a T-Rex, my family was somewhat relieved that a place still exists. It's called the Dragon Pearl and is located on York Mills just east of Leslie in that big Galleria mall. The Cantonese Chow Mein actually had a goodly amount of toppings instead of the sparse material that had adorned some of the other mein from other places. And the Lemon Chicken's batter-to-chicken ratio was actually favourable. I will have to inquire The Anime King about this place, although I have a feeling that he will probably pooh-pooh it as being too Canadian. Still, gonna have to try the buffet there someday.
It's been a pretty good few days....no work but free time to decompress a bit after a busy translating September and 3 days of teaching. Met up with the translation boss last night at the usual place for an hour of powwow about Trados, my progress (such as it is), and the translation industry as is. I'm grateful that the boss has been as patient and encouraging as he has been; it's been a humbling road thus far. But he has reassured me that I'm at the level that everyone on staff has expected me to be at as a novice translator. He then gave some further advice and my Trados disc....plus the biggest paycheque I've seen in many, many years from the culmination of the projects I've done over the past couple of months. It was quite the pleasure to deposit that sucker into the account this morning.
Haven't heard anything from the boss so far today although he had told me last night that there could be some work coming in. I will be getting a morning assignment on Tuesday at the school; I'll be getting a bigger paycheque than usual from the school because of my 3 days there last week. Might be time to check out some CDs on Amazon.
It's my second straight day of blissful relaxation from work. No calls down to the school and no frantic e-mails from the translation boss. I'm sure that will change by the end of the week. Usually, the school staff call me on Thursday or Friday, and the translation boss did say that he wanted to have a powwow either tonight or tomorrow night. Well, I'm not crazy about going out with only a few hours' notice so it'll have to be Thursday night.
I did get a nice e-mail from the teacher for whom I subbed stating that she would like to have me back sometime in the next couple of months since she'll be away again in November and December.
Despite my enjoyment of relaxation, I don't think I can really take a 3rd consecutive day sitting at home, so I will probably head on out tomorrow for a downtown walk or head over to St. Lawrence Market to get my bag of bagels for me and the parents. I may even decide to bring home some samples of that lovely Chicken Parmigiana Sandwich from The Carousel Bakery.
Well, The Blue Jays (Boo Jays, Blooper Jays?) end one of their worst seasons (19 years without a post-season appearance?! Shameful!) tonight. I read a diatribe by one of the Star's reporters, and I'm sure the front office will be getting together for a commiseration session. The disgruntled fans at Skydome (still refuse to refer to it as The Rogers Centre) would probably yell "Go Leafs Go!"as a rebuke, but that horrible team and the rest of the NHL aren't going anywhere anytime soon.
Since my most popular entry to see has been that for The Cosmic Barber (love him, too), I've decided to throw in one of his more recent videos. About twice as long as the first one as well. So, get that cup of tea, relax and be prepared to vicariously enjoy your massage for the day!
Haven't really talked about my favourite Time Lord since I started this blog. Kinda too bad that it's a bit of a pan for the latest episode which saw his representative companions leave.
As a preface though, I have to say that I haven't caught any of the 2nd series with Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor...just the opening year when it was just Amy Pond with him, and then the last couple of episodes of this 3rd series, including the aforementioned "The Angels Take Manhattan". For the past several weeks leading up to the broadcast of "this very special episode of Doctor Who", much was said that there wouldn't be a dry eye in the house of any Doctor Who fans by the end of the ep. Well, I caught it yesterday through the SPACE website here in Canada, and I gotta say that I was somewhat more frustrated than saddened by the Pond swan song.
The technical stuff like the lighting and the backdrop of New York City was gorgeous, and of course, The Weeping Angels always come off as scary. However, all of that leadup with the film noir detective in the overly long pre-credits sequence was just one big useless red herring. And I'm not usually the sharpest billiard ball on the table when it comes to detecting plot holes, but the one with the Statue of Liberty slowly "sneaking up" to the building rooftop took the proverbial cake. Lady Liberty's stroll up Manhattan made more sense in "Ghostbusters 2". And then the entire cheat at the end where the Ponds have the major scene of jumping off the building to save everyone only to survive the paradox then only to end up dying (in a way) after all.....that struck me as being very manipulative....cue tear ducts. Sorry, Moffat, you ain't getting any of my brine.
But the worst thing about "The Angels Take Manhattan" was that the all-mighty Doctor ended up being emasculated. He was just a cipher in this one for all of the existential sturm und drang.; he got slapped by his wife, kept wringing his hands at every dire chapter heading written in the special novel, and finally ends up selfishly begging for Amy to stay when it was obvious that she would (and should) join her husband in the past. He did absolutely nothing. River Song ended up driving the TARDIS while he pouted on the steps. Speaking of whom, I just found Song to be not all that appealing in this ep. Certainly, she had never been meant to be written as a perfect character (Doctor Ten and her were bickering in their first meeting) but for some reason, she was even haughtier than usual in this episode....as if she were sticking it to Eleven that she could still visit the Ponds and he could not. However, the one insightful thing she did say was that phrase insinuating that the two of them were psychopaths.
It was a rather sad coda when compared to the rip-roarin' start that was "The Eleventh Hour". Giving the Doctor about as close to a real family traveling with him in the TARDIS was fine, but perhaps it's time to get him back on his horse and solve the problems of the universe with that new companion at his side. It's one thing to give the Doctor some rough edges and flaws to well-round him but I think enough is enough after watching this latest farewell to companions. Not every companion has to leave as a tragic basketcase.
Y'know, when it comes down to it, I think I will always see "The Power of Three" as the proper farewell episode for The Ponds.
Well, woke one more time at the stroke of dawn to teach another full day downtown. And that was it. I've done my duty for that teacher. The morning class was a bit arduous but I had already known that back on Thursday, but at least the afternoon class stayed true to form and was quite nice. I preferred that way than vice versa. I give back her classes and get some added sleep. Teaching does tend to steal quite a lot of energy, so I've already gotten a nap in the armchair after dinner....just like an old fogie, I am now.
Supposed to be meeting Shard tomorrow for that boot handoff. Just not sure when he's planning to give me those snow boots. Hopefully, it'll be around noon so I can take him to the nearby Pizza Hut for lunch. Although I won't be making any income, I will appreciate the day off.
October has indeed come in but we're getting some unseasonably warmer weather. Nothing like the summer, thank the heavens, but pretty comfortable out there. However, once the Thanksgiving Day weekend comes by, the temps will be plummeting.
