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.
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
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.
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.
November is indeed here
Well, last year Winter had decided not to show up. I guess as a form of meteorological apology, Winter this year has shown up at the door a whole lot earlier. Last Friday, as I was teaching my last lesson for my latest stint at the school, one of my students told me that the flakes were indeed coming down. And such was the case yesterday.
No classes to sub for this week, but I decided to spend the morning downtown. Got to Yonge & Bloor at about 7:30 where the skies were gloomy and some flakes were wafting down. Commuters were tightly bound up as they carried their Timmys and Starbucks. Yup, Winter may have indeed arrived.
Spent my three hours at the library. Raymond Moriyama really did a good job with the place. Even after 30 years, the place still has a lot of attitude and atmosphere, although the 5th floor is still undergoing renovations. And I know that if I don't wanna work at home, I can take my translation stuff down there since there is free Wi-Fi. If I get there at opening time, finding an office, so to speak, will not be a problem. Ended up reading a book on TV theme songs.
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.
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.
Saturday, November 3, 2012
The Dark Knight Revisited
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| courtesy of andieirfan from Flickr |
As I said last entry, my class and I had watched "The Dark Knight" on DVD. It still holds up well and is easily the best of the trilogy by Chris Nolan. It really did elevate itself beyond the typical comic book movie and into a crime movie. Comparisons with this one against Tim Burton's "Batman"(1989) were going to be inevitable. I guess both movies reflected the socioeconomic realities of their times. When Burton made his Dark Knight, there was still enough of the decadence of that decade that filtered into his vision of a grotesquely romanticized view of life in Gotham City with fedoras and fantastically grotty structures...kinda like smashing together Art Deco society and contemporary urban life distorted through a funhouse mirror. Jack Nicholson's take on The Joker was grand farce and Grand Guignol....a lot of laughter and he made sure that if someone died, he died noticeably....burnt into bacon or with a forced smile on his face. All that almost subsumed Michael Keaton's dour Batman....heck, even the stylized Batmobile threatened to do that. And then there was the Danny Elfman soundtrack which had the over-the-top mix of Transylvanian horror and 1940s thriller radio serial feel to it. It was the first soundtrack album that I absolutely felt compelled to buy since "Star Wars".
Then, almost 2 decades later, there was "The Dark Knight"under Christopher Nolan. It was much more down-to-earth. Gotham City could've been New York City or...as it truly was....Chicago. People watching could relate to the sparkling skyscrapers, the grungy ghettoes and the organized crime....and even the citizens, although one of them had a penchant for wearing a rubber-and-armour batsuit and bashing criminals. Heath Ledger's Joker seemed not to have had any of the resources that the 1989 Joker had. Just knives and lint...and the odd tommy gun which he used for spree killing, a type of murder that even plagued Japan one year. Just like the city he violated, this Joker was relatable....a psychopathic terrorist leader with a Ph.D. in strategy and salesmanship. But what made him truly scary was that there was no origin story for him unlike his predecessor. No name, no accident, and he shifted his past 2 or 3 times in the course of the movie. He didn't want money or political change....he just did all that he did because he simply was The Agent of Chaos. However, as much as Ledger almost stole the show (and got that Oscar posthumously), Christian Bale could hold his own and had his own personal and professional matters to chew on. The technology that his Bruce Wayne had at his disposal was at least theoretically plausible. I could see more people asking where to get a Tumbler than the 1989 Batmobile. Whereas Keaton and Nicholson butted heads as Good and Evil from within the pages of a graphic novel, Ledger and Bale were two disturbed fellows battling each other for Chaos and Order. Overall, "The Dark Knight"adopted a much more stripped-down approach. Even Hans Zimmer's score was minimalist but effective. His theme for Batman centered on two ominous notes with added nuances depending on the mood. That's quite something for Zimmer when I remember that he was the guy behind the "Backdraft"soundtrack.
I like both of these movies done in the styles of their decades. And I'm pretty sure that there will be another series of Batman movies in the near future. I will be interested in seeing how the next auteur will approach this one. Will it be more of the down-to-earth or will it return to a more escapist and gothic feeling? Or will it head in the direction of Adam West?
Peking Duck
Saturday November 3, 1:17 p.m.
It's been nice to finally kinda unwind after a week of solid teaching....or something resembling it. I showed "The Dark Knight" as the final "activity"for the morning class. It was something that most of us agreed to, and the ones who didn't were the ones who didn't show up. One of the kids brought over a box of Timbits for everyone which was really nice. However, I just wondered, though, if it would've been better if I had just taken everyone to a Tim Hortons or a reasonable restaurant for brunch or coffee instead...the gang would've, of course, had more opportunity to speak in their final class. But there have been a lot of doubts percolating through my mind over the past few months about this gig.
Barrie, which is a small city 1 hour north of Toronto, got the meteorological icing sugar yesterday morning, and even The Big Smoke witnessed some wet snow coming down. One of my students from the afternoon class excitedly told me as I made my way out of the school. Pretty early these days for even a flurry, so I'm wondering how this Winter is gonna be. It certainly did feel quite wintry out there. After my week's work, I treated myself to lunch at Yueh Tung on Elizabeth St. Of course, I had my default Manchurian Chicken on Rice. Since I got there about 12:30, the place was at full steam in terms of both customers and harried staff. It was my fourth time there, but amazingly enough, the main guy seemed to recognize me and get me a nice table by the exit.
Now, back on Halloween night, my family had our long awaited reunion with my Vancouver cousins. My sister-in-law was kind enough to arrange dinner at the Asian Legend in Scarberia. Thanks to her father's connections, we were able to get our own room, and the Peking Duck dinner. Yup, darn scrumptious that skin and pancake first course. I hadn't seen my cousin for over a decade since my brother got married, and as for her husband, I hadn't seen him in close to 30 years. Happily, they haven't changed all that much.
Of course, the 2nd course was that delectable duck fat-cooked dish of duck meat and vegetables wrapped in leaves of lettuce. Strangely enough though, in Japan, where Peking Duck is seen as the King of Chinese Cuisine, a lot of places only provide that first course of skin and wrap...none of the 2nd course and the duck soup at the end. I'd always thought about what the cooks did with the rest of the duck. Did they eat it or did any of the stray cats in Yokohama Chinatown look a lot bigger the next day? I figure if any of my old students ever venture to Toronto, I will arrange a true Peking Duck adventure for them.
Having said that, we didn't get the duck soup. But then again, a lot of dumplings and dessert at the end more than compensated. But when our cousins came over to the house, my mother served apple pie and coffee. Even I would've declined it, but since it was crumble-top....
It's been nice to finally kinda unwind after a week of solid teaching....or something resembling it. I showed "The Dark Knight" as the final "activity"for the morning class. It was something that most of us agreed to, and the ones who didn't were the ones who didn't show up. One of the kids brought over a box of Timbits for everyone which was really nice. However, I just wondered, though, if it would've been better if I had just taken everyone to a Tim Hortons or a reasonable restaurant for brunch or coffee instead...the gang would've, of course, had more opportunity to speak in their final class. But there have been a lot of doubts percolating through my mind over the past few months about this gig.
Barrie, which is a small city 1 hour north of Toronto, got the meteorological icing sugar yesterday morning, and even The Big Smoke witnessed some wet snow coming down. One of my students from the afternoon class excitedly told me as I made my way out of the school. Pretty early these days for even a flurry, so I'm wondering how this Winter is gonna be. It certainly did feel quite wintry out there. After my week's work, I treated myself to lunch at Yueh Tung on Elizabeth St. Of course, I had my default Manchurian Chicken on Rice. Since I got there about 12:30, the place was at full steam in terms of both customers and harried staff. It was my fourth time there, but amazingly enough, the main guy seemed to recognize me and get me a nice table by the exit.
Having said that, we didn't get the duck soup. But then again, a lot of dumplings and dessert at the end more than compensated. But when our cousins came over to the house, my mother served apple pie and coffee. Even I would've declined it, but since it was crumble-top....
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Been a Week
Thursday November 1, 8:44 a.m.
Man, I've been feeling downright domestic this week with me subbing for that teacher. It's been everyday up at the crack of dawn to head on down to the school and teach three full lessons before heading back. And all throughout, there has been that meteorological arc of the remnants of Hurricane Sandy....gloom and rain. I've met some truly nice folk and some pretty fickle ones as well. And the week's work, which will be finishing tomorrow morning, has gotten me to make a fairly big decision. To be honest, I decided to finish things this afternoon. With the afternoon classes coming to a close today, I decided to treat my entire final class to drinks at Starbucks....they've suffered enough. And tomorrow, with the final morning class, I'll be showing "The Dark Knight" as a treat.
It was a major miracle that I could get through the day today since I was out last night with my Vancouver cousins and my family for a scrumptious Chinese dinner out in Scarberia. They came over to our place after dinner for coffee and cake which meant that I didn't even get to start planning for today's lessons until close to midnight. And my ISP was breaking down, so I had to get a lot of the stuff done at the school in the hour before this morning's first lesson. Plus, the copier on my floor was out of order for 2 days which meant a lot of going up and down stairs to get the needed copies done. Twenty years ago, I would've jumped out the window.
But I feel practically giddy now that I've passed the gauntlet. Even if one of the staffers comes up to me tomorrow and asks if I would like to work next week, I'll politely decline. The way teachers bring the supply guys up to speed varies wildly. This week's guy basically threw me out on a fairly shaky limb.
Man, I've been feeling downright domestic this week with me subbing for that teacher. It's been everyday up at the crack of dawn to head on down to the school and teach three full lessons before heading back. And all throughout, there has been that meteorological arc of the remnants of Hurricane Sandy....gloom and rain. I've met some truly nice folk and some pretty fickle ones as well. And the week's work, which will be finishing tomorrow morning, has gotten me to make a fairly big decision. To be honest, I decided to finish things this afternoon. With the afternoon classes coming to a close today, I decided to treat my entire final class to drinks at Starbucks....they've suffered enough. And tomorrow, with the final morning class, I'll be showing "The Dark Knight" as a treat.
It was a major miracle that I could get through the day today since I was out last night with my Vancouver cousins and my family for a scrumptious Chinese dinner out in Scarberia. They came over to our place after dinner for coffee and cake which meant that I didn't even get to start planning for today's lessons until close to midnight. And my ISP was breaking down, so I had to get a lot of the stuff done at the school in the hour before this morning's first lesson. Plus, the copier on my floor was out of order for 2 days which meant a lot of going up and down stairs to get the needed copies done. Twenty years ago, I would've jumped out the window.
But I feel practically giddy now that I've passed the gauntlet. Even if one of the staffers comes up to me tomorrow and asks if I would like to work next week, I'll politely decline. The way teachers bring the supply guys up to speed varies wildly. This week's guy basically threw me out on a fairly shaky limb.
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