Thursday November 22, 1:47 p.m.
Just taking some time off for the next few days. I had that all-day translating assignment yesterday, and considering the written version of a stern lecture from the boss the other day for not providing a high-quality product, I concentrated even more on this one on Wednesday. After a triple check, I handed it in a few hours before the deadline. Got the acknowledgement from the boss this morning, and he even offered me another assignment today but I turned it down. It was even larger but I'm feeling even more tired. So, today is just taking care of my blogs.
Started my Xmas time this morning when I sent out the first 8 Xmas cards over to Japan, and bought a couple of calendars for my former students since the two of them had been kind enough to send over a small parcel of rice crackers and peanuts a couple of months ago. I figure things are gonna get nuts starting in a couple of weeks.
This morning on NHK News, it was being reported that there was some sort of hostage-taking incident happening at a store in Aichi Prefecture. At the time, the psycho released a couple of hostages and got some bento for the remaining people inside. As bad as that situation is over there, I can't even imagine what it's gonna be like tomorrow on Black Friday in the States. I can guarantee that it will be violent.
Meanwhile in the final sumo championship of the year, there are two yokozuna grand champions for the first time in several years. Hakuho is protecting his one loss as the leader but the new yokozuna, Harumafuji, is looking a bit uncertain after losing 3 bouts. Not too yokozuna-like in performance but then again, the pressure is probably a bit harder on him right now.
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Work (the) Future
Tuesday November 20, 12:29 p.m.
Yesterday morning, I went down to my now-former school as if I were going to teach a lesson down there. Got there early. However, it was just to return the school manual....not that I referred to it too much. I just went straight in since there was nobody there and left it at the counter and took off like the ghost I was, since I've been deemed persona non grata.
I ended up just walking up to the St. George campus at University of Toronto. I was pretty much a crap student in the 80s, although I did in fact (barely) graduate, but the campus has been a comfortable refuge for me downtown. I trudged up to Sidney Smith Hall and spent the next 3 hours in the main atrium whilst young folk criss-crossed behind me or lounged about on those comfy armchairs right in the middle. Had plenty of reading material...."The Varsity", "the newspaper" and the hilarious "Toike Oike" along with "The Toronto Sun" and "Metro". During those 3 hours, I didn't feel like a homeless person but I kinda spiritually connected to those laid-off salarymen in Japan who wouldn't tell their families about their unemployment and just secretly spent those 8 hours in parks or coffee shops. It might explain how places like Starbucks and Doutors have exploded in number in the past 15 years.
Got my lunch at one of the veteran trucks in front of Sid Smith. Always nice to get my burger and fries. I think the couple managing the truck was having a bit of a spat though. Afterwards, I walked on down to the Koffler Centre for some browsing, and then crossed the street over to the International Student Centre, one of my old haunts. It's a pity about what's happened to the place. It used to be a nice home-away-from-home to put up one's feet with the various rooms for lounging, but now it looks like all of the rooms have been converted into offices. The one room on the first floor that looked like it could still have people for lounging purposes, the Baldwin Room, was completely deserted, and it was still before 1 p.m. I quickly decided to pass through the ISC and walked to the nearest subway station for home.
Well, with my first source of income gone, what do I have? I still have translation but my boss was none too pleased with my most recent output, so I'm not sure where I stand with him and his company. However, I still have my Skype student at least until the year is up, and another former student has started sending me her essays for proofreading. I still want to get back to writing since I've let that go by the wayside over the past number of months. Nope, not particularly profitable but still alive for now.
Yesterday morning, I went down to my now-former school as if I were going to teach a lesson down there. Got there early. However, it was just to return the school manual....not that I referred to it too much. I just went straight in since there was nobody there and left it at the counter and took off like the ghost I was, since I've been deemed persona non grata.
I ended up just walking up to the St. George campus at University of Toronto. I was pretty much a crap student in the 80s, although I did in fact (barely) graduate, but the campus has been a comfortable refuge for me downtown. I trudged up to Sidney Smith Hall and spent the next 3 hours in the main atrium whilst young folk criss-crossed behind me or lounged about on those comfy armchairs right in the middle. Had plenty of reading material...."The Varsity", "the newspaper" and the hilarious "Toike Oike" along with "The Toronto Sun" and "Metro". During those 3 hours, I didn't feel like a homeless person but I kinda spiritually connected to those laid-off salarymen in Japan who wouldn't tell their families about their unemployment and just secretly spent those 8 hours in parks or coffee shops. It might explain how places like Starbucks and Doutors have exploded in number in the past 15 years.
Got my lunch at one of the veteran trucks in front of Sid Smith. Always nice to get my burger and fries. I think the couple managing the truck was having a bit of a spat though. Afterwards, I walked on down to the Koffler Centre for some browsing, and then crossed the street over to the International Student Centre, one of my old haunts. It's a pity about what's happened to the place. It used to be a nice home-away-from-home to put up one's feet with the various rooms for lounging, but now it looks like all of the rooms have been converted into offices. The one room on the first floor that looked like it could still have people for lounging purposes, the Baldwin Room, was completely deserted, and it was still before 1 p.m. I quickly decided to pass through the ISC and walked to the nearest subway station for home.
Well, with my first source of income gone, what do I have? I still have translation but my boss was none too pleased with my most recent output, so I'm not sure where I stand with him and his company. However, I still have my Skype student at least until the year is up, and another former student has started sending me her essays for proofreading. I still want to get back to writing since I've let that go by the wayside over the past number of months. Nope, not particularly profitable but still alive for now.
Sports-A-Chatter in Toronto
Tuesday November 20, 12:14 p.m.
I guess it's been a banner week for Toronto sports fans. Although the one team that should be on everyone's minds at this time of year is out of commission due to the NHL strike (the running gag is that at least the Leafs have not lost any games this Fall), the Argos are headed for the Grey Cup this Sunday right in their hometown, and the sad-sack Blue Jays of 2012 seem to be regenerating into the playoff-contending Blue Jays of 2013. I say "seem" since despite all of the rabid jibber-jabber amongst fans, players and pundits during the past 7 days, we won't know whether any of these acquisitions will actually work out until well into the season. We're basically running on good wishes and educated speculation on past stats.
Of course, Alex Anthopolous is keeping that city-wide polylogue alive by introducing the new old manager of the Jays: John Gibbons. I was in Japan for all of the first decade of the 21st century so I have no idea who this guy is. My parents do, and they've immediately turned thumbs-down on him. All I know is that at his press conference, he showed a sly sense of humour and that he's been described as a hard-nosed manager. We shall see.
I guess it's been a banner week for Toronto sports fans. Although the one team that should be on everyone's minds at this time of year is out of commission due to the NHL strike (the running gag is that at least the Leafs have not lost any games this Fall), the Argos are headed for the Grey Cup this Sunday right in their hometown, and the sad-sack Blue Jays of 2012 seem to be regenerating into the playoff-contending Blue Jays of 2013. I say "seem" since despite all of the rabid jibber-jabber amongst fans, players and pundits during the past 7 days, we won't know whether any of these acquisitions will actually work out until well into the season. We're basically running on good wishes and educated speculation on past stats.
Of course, Alex Anthopolous is keeping that city-wide polylogue alive by introducing the new old manager of the Jays: John Gibbons. I was in Japan for all of the first decade of the 21st century so I have no idea who this guy is. My parents do, and they've immediately turned thumbs-down on him. All I know is that at his press conference, he showed a sly sense of humour and that he's been described as a hard-nosed manager. We shall see.
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| courtesy of hoganphoto from Flickr |
Skyfall Again and Chako Again
Tuesday November 20, 11:54 a.m.
Well, after all that talk on religion vs. science on Sunday, I had lunch with my brother's family and then it was off to see some of The Anime Court at the Cineplex near Eglinton and Pharmacy, near old Magder Studios where they had filmed part of the legendary comedy series, "SCTV" in the early 80s.
I ended up watching "Skyfall" again....it's pretty rare that I watch any first-run movie twice, but I think the latest 007 caper is worth a repeat look. It's definitely a few levels higher in quality than "Quantum of Solace", which I'm slowly warming up to, but the fact is that compared to this one and "Casino Royale", the second Daniel Craig movie will always come out as a bit of a slump. One critic said that the middle movie was the producers' failed attempt to fast-track Craig's 007 from rough-around-the-edges blunt end of the stick to suave-and-sophisticated killer elite. "Skyfall" was more successful from that angle. I mentioned to the bunch at dinner afterwards that Sean Connery had been approached to play the role of Kincade that Albert Finney eventually got. They were quite surprised but came to the conclusion that Sir Sean's inclusion would've been too distracting. Perhaps, but I would've been personally thrilled to see the very first....and still best....James Bond coming in on the 50th anniversary of "Dr. No". A few of the lines from Finney sounded as if they had been made specifically for Connery. However, I have the feeling that Connery is probably no longer quite well enough to do a cameo now.
After the movie, the six of us all headed out for that Korean/Japanese BBQ place Chako out in Agincourt. It cost each of us $27 but since it was all-you-can-eat which included a lot of variety in beef, chicken, pork and lamb, plus sushi and dessert, I'd say the cost/satsifaction ratio was very fair. And unlike Bulgogi Brothers, the large table has two, instead of one, burners, although arguably the latter place had a better quality of meat. However, with a bunch of friends, it's always more fun to go with the all-you-can-eat option. Apparently, Xmas has started over there since the seasonal music was playing on the speakers.
Well, after all that talk on religion vs. science on Sunday, I had lunch with my brother's family and then it was off to see some of The Anime Court at the Cineplex near Eglinton and Pharmacy, near old Magder Studios where they had filmed part of the legendary comedy series, "SCTV" in the early 80s.
I ended up watching "Skyfall" again....it's pretty rare that I watch any first-run movie twice, but I think the latest 007 caper is worth a repeat look. It's definitely a few levels higher in quality than "Quantum of Solace", which I'm slowly warming up to, but the fact is that compared to this one and "Casino Royale", the second Daniel Craig movie will always come out as a bit of a slump. One critic said that the middle movie was the producers' failed attempt to fast-track Craig's 007 from rough-around-the-edges blunt end of the stick to suave-and-sophisticated killer elite. "Skyfall" was more successful from that angle. I mentioned to the bunch at dinner afterwards that Sean Connery had been approached to play the role of Kincade that Albert Finney eventually got. They were quite surprised but came to the conclusion that Sir Sean's inclusion would've been too distracting. Perhaps, but I would've been personally thrilled to see the very first....and still best....James Bond coming in on the 50th anniversary of "Dr. No". A few of the lines from Finney sounded as if they had been made specifically for Connery. However, I have the feeling that Connery is probably no longer quite well enough to do a cameo now.
After the movie, the six of us all headed out for that Korean/Japanese BBQ place Chako out in Agincourt. It cost each of us $27 but since it was all-you-can-eat which included a lot of variety in beef, chicken, pork and lamb, plus sushi and dessert, I'd say the cost/satsifaction ratio was very fair. And unlike Bulgogi Brothers, the large table has two, instead of one, burners, although arguably the latter place had a better quality of meat. However, with a bunch of friends, it's always more fun to go with the all-you-can-eat option. Apparently, Xmas has started over there since the seasonal music was playing on the speakers.
Monday, November 19, 2012
Behe Right or Behe Wrong?
Monday November 19, 4:11 p.m.
Usually when I get up early on a Sunday and head on out, it's because of another day of food-and-anime with The Anime King. Yesterday, I did indeed get up early...in fact, it was the earliest I'd ever been up on a Sunday in Toronto at 6:30 a.m.....but it wasn't for my good friend. Instead, it was for the argument of Intelligent Design!
I'm not a religious person at all. Never have been, never will be. But my fine sister-in-law is very much so. We've gotten along well with no problems, though, and we've barely touched upon the topic that separates us. However, a few weeks ago, she informed me about a series of lectures that Dr. Michael Behe was giving at places like the University of Toronto, and asked me if I would be interested in taking a look at one of them. Well, I was a bit intrigued about what Intelligent Design was all about, although I was pretty confident that my religious non-beliefs would not be swayed.
And so yesterday, my brother and my bleary-eyed self went to a Richmond Hill community church gym to hear this professor from Pennsylvania give this talk. My brother had been expecting a lot of the dyed-in-the-wool middle-aged and elderly folks just to show up, but to his surprise, half of the audience was quite a bit younger than us. In any case, Dr. Behe gave a talk on his concept of Irreducible Complexity which explains that some systems are so complex that they cannot be broken down into simpler units....he used the common mouse trap as an analogy for the common cell. Why can the cell function with its parts such as mitochondria or cilia? Obviously having given this talk so often and so long, his delivery was as smooth as silk, bringing in some pop cultural references such as "Calvin & Hobbes", "The Far Side" and even the "Ghostbusters" logo. He also spoke of that famous sci-fi trope of individual cells being microscopic organic machines. And yes, he did hint at the firestorm of controversy between Intelligent Design and Darwinism, likening the lot of Designers to life in the old Soviet Union.
There were a few questions from the audience at the end of the talk but despite the host's proud assertions of some of the liveliness of the talks downtown, I think giving a talk involving a battle over the origins of life and biochemistry is never going to be an easy sell on a Sunday morning when people may not have had their coffee and bacon n' eggs. As for me, what I got from Dr. Behe's talk was that after nearly 2 centuries, Darwinism is getting slightly ragged and there are perhaps some holes forming in that quilt, but I'm not as eagerly willing to fill those holes with a divine solution as Dr. Behe has been. Perhaps there still are scientific explanations out there but not yet discovered. Maybe higher beings did come to this Earth millions of years ago and planned everything out, but I certainly won't say that they were supernatural ones. Another interesting observation is that Behe never directly said that God was responsible for creating things such as the parts of a cell, although the fact that he was speaking from the middle of a church intimated things clearly enough for me, at least.
Still, the good doctor seemed like the type to have a good friendly debate about this over a beer. If it hadn't been for the fact that the both of us were constrained by time, I probably would have approached him for a question or two afterwards.
Behe can be found anywhere on the Net, but here's one page: http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/behe.html
And here's a YouTube of one of his lectures:
Usually when I get up early on a Sunday and head on out, it's because of another day of food-and-anime with The Anime King. Yesterday, I did indeed get up early...in fact, it was the earliest I'd ever been up on a Sunday in Toronto at 6:30 a.m.....but it wasn't for my good friend. Instead, it was for the argument of Intelligent Design!
I'm not a religious person at all. Never have been, never will be. But my fine sister-in-law is very much so. We've gotten along well with no problems, though, and we've barely touched upon the topic that separates us. However, a few weeks ago, she informed me about a series of lectures that Dr. Michael Behe was giving at places like the University of Toronto, and asked me if I would be interested in taking a look at one of them. Well, I was a bit intrigued about what Intelligent Design was all about, although I was pretty confident that my religious non-beliefs would not be swayed.
And so yesterday, my brother and my bleary-eyed self went to a Richmond Hill community church gym to hear this professor from Pennsylvania give this talk. My brother had been expecting a lot of the dyed-in-the-wool middle-aged and elderly folks just to show up, but to his surprise, half of the audience was quite a bit younger than us. In any case, Dr. Behe gave a talk on his concept of Irreducible Complexity which explains that some systems are so complex that they cannot be broken down into simpler units....he used the common mouse trap as an analogy for the common cell. Why can the cell function with its parts such as mitochondria or cilia? Obviously having given this talk so often and so long, his delivery was as smooth as silk, bringing in some pop cultural references such as "Calvin & Hobbes", "The Far Side" and even the "Ghostbusters" logo. He also spoke of that famous sci-fi trope of individual cells being microscopic organic machines. And yes, he did hint at the firestorm of controversy between Intelligent Design and Darwinism, likening the lot of Designers to life in the old Soviet Union.
There were a few questions from the audience at the end of the talk but despite the host's proud assertions of some of the liveliness of the talks downtown, I think giving a talk involving a battle over the origins of life and biochemistry is never going to be an easy sell on a Sunday morning when people may not have had their coffee and bacon n' eggs. As for me, what I got from Dr. Behe's talk was that after nearly 2 centuries, Darwinism is getting slightly ragged and there are perhaps some holes forming in that quilt, but I'm not as eagerly willing to fill those holes with a divine solution as Dr. Behe has been. Perhaps there still are scientific explanations out there but not yet discovered. Maybe higher beings did come to this Earth millions of years ago and planned everything out, but I certainly won't say that they were supernatural ones. Another interesting observation is that Behe never directly said that God was responsible for creating things such as the parts of a cell, although the fact that he was speaking from the middle of a church intimated things clearly enough for me, at least.
Still, the good doctor seemed like the type to have a good friendly debate about this over a beer. If it hadn't been for the fact that the both of us were constrained by time, I probably would have approached him for a question or two afterwards.
Behe can be found anywhere on the Net, but here's one page: http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/behe.html
And here's a YouTube of one of his lectures:
Friday, November 16, 2012
Dissolution or Disillusion?
Friday November 16, 7:39 p.m.
There have been some strange parallels going on between Japan and North America in the last couple of days.
Last Tuesday, the United States...or half of them....re-elected Barack Obama as their President in a culmination of nearly 2 years of steadily hysterical campaigning that has left the electorate exhausted after record numbers of them came out to vote, except now they're facing the Fiscal Cliff. Meanwhile in the last 24 hours, PM Noda was basically forced to dissolve the Japanese Parliament by the Opposition led by a supposedly rejuvenated former PM and current LDP leader Shinzo Abe. What will follow is a month of white-gloved and loudspeaker-manned-truck campaigning before the Lower House election on December 16....for which there will most likely be very anemic voter turnout. In another parallel, Obama gets back into the Oval Office, no longer as the Man of Change or Yes We Can, but as a hardened Chief Executive who beat a Republican candidate who just seemed to beat himself up. On the other side of the Pacific, the Democratic Party of Japan led by Yukio Hatoyama seemed to be the hopeful new engine of a Manifesto when they trounced the once-unbeatable Liberal Democratic Party 3 years ago. But as of today, the DPJ's Manifesto is pretty much a verboten word and the governing party has half the support that the LDP currently has.
And the same thing can be said about transit crime. A couple of days ago, there was a kerfuffle in which a TTC driver had been suspended for being a Good Samaritan by abandoning his post and trying to chase down an alleged sexual assaulter who ran from his vehicle (luckily, the driver has been re-instated with full pay). Over in Tokyo, a prominent NHK morning anchor for the weekend, Takeshige Morimoto, has been arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a lady on the subway on Wednesday night. Since we have TV Japan, his face was a regular one to see at home. When we turned on NHK tonight to see the morning news (Tokyo is 14 hours ahead of us), he was obviously not there, and there was not a mention of his name. At this point, he is persona non grata....until things get cleared up. Apparently, Morimoto had been drinking at the time, so I guess he was pretty dissolute. Just wondering if his career is gonna be facing dissolution as well.
This is Morimoto in happier days.
There have been some strange parallels going on between Japan and North America in the last couple of days.
Last Tuesday, the United States...or half of them....re-elected Barack Obama as their President in a culmination of nearly 2 years of steadily hysterical campaigning that has left the electorate exhausted after record numbers of them came out to vote, except now they're facing the Fiscal Cliff. Meanwhile in the last 24 hours, PM Noda was basically forced to dissolve the Japanese Parliament by the Opposition led by a supposedly rejuvenated former PM and current LDP leader Shinzo Abe. What will follow is a month of white-gloved and loudspeaker-manned-truck campaigning before the Lower House election on December 16....for which there will most likely be very anemic voter turnout. In another parallel, Obama gets back into the Oval Office, no longer as the Man of Change or Yes We Can, but as a hardened Chief Executive who beat a Republican candidate who just seemed to beat himself up. On the other side of the Pacific, the Democratic Party of Japan led by Yukio Hatoyama seemed to be the hopeful new engine of a Manifesto when they trounced the once-unbeatable Liberal Democratic Party 3 years ago. But as of today, the DPJ's Manifesto is pretty much a verboten word and the governing party has half the support that the LDP currently has.
And the same thing can be said about transit crime. A couple of days ago, there was a kerfuffle in which a TTC driver had been suspended for being a Good Samaritan by abandoning his post and trying to chase down an alleged sexual assaulter who ran from his vehicle (luckily, the driver has been re-instated with full pay). Over in Tokyo, a prominent NHK morning anchor for the weekend, Takeshige Morimoto, has been arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a lady on the subway on Wednesday night. Since we have TV Japan, his face was a regular one to see at home. When we turned on NHK tonight to see the morning news (Tokyo is 14 hours ahead of us), he was obviously not there, and there was not a mention of his name. At this point, he is persona non grata....until things get cleared up. Apparently, Morimoto had been drinking at the time, so I guess he was pretty dissolute. Just wondering if his career is gonna be facing dissolution as well.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Pulling the Trigger, Making the Change
Thursday November 15, 1:02 p.m.
Well, treated my parents to lunch at a Chinese buffet place and then later on, my parents brought home a pizza from the Metro supermarket. I paid the price later on....gastrointestinally speaking. But that's not what the title refers to.
Nope, I decided it was time to hand in my resignation to the school. A couple of weeks back, I did my weeklong session subbing for a teacher....nice students and all, but it was far from a home run with them in terms of rapport....basically I felt like it was the Blue Jays 2012 as a teacher. I could actually see myself in Ricky Romero's cleats and just look skywards. "Why me?" I've been doing this for a quarter of a century with some good success but when it came to this school, I might as well have stuck on a piece of paper to my chest which says "WARNING: ROOKIE TEACHER ON BOARD". There was also the fact that my other work in translation was finally starting to clash with the teaching requests. I had to decline 2 or 3 requests in the last fortnight because of translation assignments. And with that last one, I told myself that it was time to make the call.
So, I sent the e-mail about an hour ago....carefully crafted so that it was polite and apologetic....to the powers-that-be that it was time to move on. Translation is not a walk in the park, by any means. But at least I'm getting more well-earned experience, satisfaction and income. Plus, at least I will have some time back to return to pure writing....aside from blogging.
I still have my lone student back in Japan for the Skype teaching, so that's OK. And perhaps in the future, I may be able to help some other student on an individual basis. But on the organizational level, I'm done.
Well, treated my parents to lunch at a Chinese buffet place and then later on, my parents brought home a pizza from the Metro supermarket. I paid the price later on....gastrointestinally speaking. But that's not what the title refers to.
Nope, I decided it was time to hand in my resignation to the school. A couple of weeks back, I did my weeklong session subbing for a teacher....nice students and all, but it was far from a home run with them in terms of rapport....basically I felt like it was the Blue Jays 2012 as a teacher. I could actually see myself in Ricky Romero's cleats and just look skywards. "Why me?" I've been doing this for a quarter of a century with some good success but when it came to this school, I might as well have stuck on a piece of paper to my chest which says "WARNING: ROOKIE TEACHER ON BOARD". There was also the fact that my other work in translation was finally starting to clash with the teaching requests. I had to decline 2 or 3 requests in the last fortnight because of translation assignments. And with that last one, I told myself that it was time to make the call.
So, I sent the e-mail about an hour ago....carefully crafted so that it was polite and apologetic....to the powers-that-be that it was time to move on. Translation is not a walk in the park, by any means. But at least I'm getting more well-earned experience, satisfaction and income. Plus, at least I will have some time back to return to pure writing....aside from blogging.
I still have my lone student back in Japan for the Skype teaching, so that's OK. And perhaps in the future, I may be able to help some other student on an individual basis. But on the organizational level, I'm done.
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