週末あった、あんなコト、こんなコト。

（久しぶりに日本語で。）
GWの前半戦、免許の書き換えや、人と会ったりとバラエティに富んでいましたが、その他にもいろいろありました。

＊＊＊
まずはジムにて。

久しぶりに身体スコア（体脂肪とか筋肉量のアレ）を計ってみた所、体重が増えている事は発覚。しかし筋肉が増え（約１kg）、脂肪が減った（約500g）そーなので、まーヨシとしました。しかし結構時間が経っているので、あまりトレーニングの成果とも思えませんが。。。

＊＊＊
飲み屋さんにて。

木曜日からトータル４つほど飲み屋さんに行きましたが、飲んだモノと言えば（延べ）、、、
ビール：生ビール、レッドアイ
焼酎：レント（ロック）、黒伊佐錦（ロック）、三年寝太郎（ロック）、いいちこ（水割り）←だよね？
ジン：ジンライム、ボンベイサファイア（ロック）
ウォッカ：コスモポリタン
と美味しく頂いてみました。

久々に飲んだボンベイサファイアと、（ほぼ）初めて飲んだコスモポリタンが美味しかったですネ。

＊＊＊
映画館にて

『フィクサー』と『アイム・ノット・ゼア』の二本を観てみました。今年のオスカー、助演女優賞＆主演女優賞ペアです。

助演女優賞は『フィクサー』からティルダ・スウィントンです。野心で身を滅ぼす女性ですが、『コンスタンチン』でもそんな役でしたね。彼女の冷たい皮膚感と大きな瞳がマッチしてるんでしょうか。

主演女優賞は『アイム・ノット・ゼア』からケイト・ブランシェット。実は見終わって映画館を出た時に「分からんかった〜。」と思ったのですが、今日になってその話を同僚のMさん（映画に関しては全くの素人）に話した所、

「それは感覚で観れば良かったんじゃないですか？」
とのこと。何となく納得です。

一緒に観てくれたKくんは「フアンのための映画」とも言ってたし、映画はやっぱり楽しんでこそですかネ。

＊＊＊
自宅にて。

２月の終わりから我が家にいたイモ虫クンが遂に旅立って（飛び立って？）行きました。

２月〜
http://hal9000-tko.blogspot.com/2008/02/look-he-is-alive.html
３月〜
http://hal9000-tko.blogspot.com/2008/03/moult-pupate.html

そして４月。サナギになったまま一月以上経ってはいましたが、窓辺になんとなく置いておいた所、火曜日の朝（誕生日の朝ですね）、サナギを完全に破って出て来ている事を発見。しばらく「ジー」としていましたが、ベランダでちょっと突くと、ぱたぱた（もっと「バサバサ」でしたが）と飛んで行きました。。。元気でね。

＊＊＊
あ、サボテンの花が（今年も）咲きました♪

b-day special :D

i've got a lovely flower basket, from Naoko-chan in tottori. they are:
ツツジ
ゼンマイ
カーネーション
ガーベラ
デルフィニウム
モステラ（葉）
レモンリーフ（葉）

***
thanks a lot, Nao-chan! i'm enjoying :D

very mini: it's no bad, huh?

i've got a renewal driver's license today, & surprisingly the photo on my new license isn't so bad.

actually, i went to a barber shop before my license renewal, then i got to shave a beard, so it must be good :O

what do you think?

***
pic #1: that's mine.
pic #2: view from the cafeteria in tokyo metropolitan building.

mini: under the sea...

finally, i've survived in these two weeks.

on thursday, my boss was back to work, & i returned his delegation. so last night i went eating out (for celebration of survival?) with my girl friends.

***
we went to a restaurant in ebisu. the restaurant was like "under the sea", actually it was basement though.

anyway, the restaurant had a big deep water tank, like an aquarium, & in the tank there were tropical (?) fish, sharks, napoleon fish. oh, i found a turtle, too.

plus, food & drinks were nicely served. i had a glass of...red eye, gin lime, & bombay shapphire with ice. about food, my favorite one was "揚げゴボウと水菜のポークジンジャー和え", but i needed chop sticks!

***
i thought maybe good idea to have fish (guppies or something?) in a small tank. what do you think?

"penelope"

i shouldn't say that, but it reminds me "イグアナの娘" by Kanno Miho chan. over all, it's very good movie anyway, though.

***
staring Christina Ricci (Penelope) & James McAvoy (Jahnny/Max) with Reese Witherspoon.

the story was about Penelope, a girl who was born with a pig nose & pig ears by historical her family curse, became a independant girl.

her mother was trying to lifting the curse from Penelope, & the mother was believing only way to list the curse was Penelope gets marriage with someone from "own families". (<- i heard like that, but now sure...)

anyway, her mother & a match making consultant found tons of bloom candidates, but they were jumping out from a windows when they saw Penelope's pretty pig nose.

Finally, Penelope got one, Max (actually Jahnny), but there was a reason...

***
as i said, overall it was funny & good movie. i didn't know that but Reese Witherspoon was in the movie, & she did a good job as usual. also or maybe everybody thinks, even Christina Ricci has pig nose, she is still very cute.

this time, my favorite guy wasn't James McAvoy (of course he was hot). it's Nick Frost (left), & as you may guess, he isn't so cool again. i think Frost is british, by the way.

the site:
http://www.penelopethemovie.com/
http://www.penelope-movie.com/

***
by the way, before my new friend K-kun recommend to see the movie, & K-kun you are so right!

stars know everything, anything.

maybe someone laughs at me, but i totally believe horoscopes, especially from weekly pia.

then, for next week, taurus which is my sign will have an unlucky week, maybe.

i know it's just "horoscope", but it also says that for blowing out unfortunates, i should be confident & will try to do exercise or sports.

i kind of believe that because one day one of my friends said to me, "happiness will bring more happiness (, & unhappiness will bring unhappiness)." or something.

i also imagine that i could be unconfident for my work since i have been delegated from my boss. i know i haven't had enough experience in my company, yet. so this week i may think too much when i answer something.

in my conclusion, for next week i will try to stay clam & be confident. oh don't forget to go to gym, start from this weekend!

***
small talk for today.

my current coworker M-san said that if we use our brains hard enough, we won't be fat...because brains can work only by sugar.

if we want to loose our weights, let's study very hard & feed sugar for our brains :D (M-san, is it really true?)

she is talking about beigle :)

she is Toda Erika chan. she is cute. she is talking about beigle :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDDVZgsq4VA

i really think i have eyes fro beauty, don't i?

my boss will hospitalize!?

that was the first thing i heard in the morning...from my boss.

my boss may get to hurt his kidney or something. then, he is taking medical exams in this week. i have been working for the company for just one month and half, but i may be delegated his tasks, oh no!

however, my tasks are not big deal, actually. i heard that my boss has been very busy since last summer or something. also, he has a little son, so for his son my boss has to have good rest & recover for his family, right?

I'm hoping that.

***
by the way, i had time to read some news articles even i supposed to be busy. then i found one about Mr. Nishida who is the president of Toshiba. in the article was basically about HD DVD vs. Blue-ray.

It was very interesting story, & in the end there were five tips from hism.
- if no risk on a business, the business won't be growing.
- listen to market voices, not my ego.
- act quick with timely decision making.
- should be a leader who is a self-starter.
- evolute with recovery power, success won't be forever, but un-success also won't be forever.

they are the trues i agree with. (also, he mentioned extensive/wide reading. i will try that.)

black-frame-good-ones

for cool business men, there are three "good" things we should have: shoes, a watch & a bag, in general.

For me, plus eyeglasses.

***
i could say i'm always looking for good eyeglasses, but i barely find ones fitting to me (my face).

this evening, i just visited to a eyeglasses shop near my place for fixing mine. actually, mine came from the shop, so. i thought it was just for fixing, but somehow i tried to look for something new arond the shop, then found good ones.

***
i guess there were some clues around me from yesterday.

first, yesterday i chatted with a guy who ware eyeglasses. he was my heir stylist, but we chatted nothing about heir, then instead of that, we talked about glasses. he asked me about temples of my glasses. he was wondering mine was unique shape, then looked like comfortable for fitting ears, or something.

i didn't thing that before he asked, but it is comfortable. i started to thing about eyeglasses since then.

***
today, i took a class room lecture in shinjuku. then a guy next to me was like "眼鏡男子". he had black frame glasses, then fitted to him.

since then, i was thinking about black frame ones.

***
glasses i have chosen are actually not in tokyo now. probably, i need to wait for could more weeks :D

&these pics show how much i like glasses (or men in glasses?).

"my blueberry nights"

finally, i saw the movie "my blueberry nights", but it wasn't a plan.

originally, i wanted to see "penelope", then i went to a discount ticket shop in shinjuku. the guy in the shop kind of laugh at me (失笑ね), & said, "it was until yesterday, & already started 'atonement' in the theater."

oh, no! but that's way, i decided to see "my blueberry nights."

***
my ex-coworker A-san told me, "it's too long to find out who she loves, right?" i think she doesn't know how to see Wong Kar Wai's movies. (i already taught her this.)

what important things of Wong Kar Wais movies is "process". he never jumps to the conclusion even we, as audience, know the ending. also, i guess his movies are not so complicated.

anyway, i got to think "my blueberry nights" is more than OK, especially because i like Natalie Portman & Rachel Weisz. Does Portman become really frivolous (はすっぱネ) or flippant (軽薄ネ)? She seemed like really so.

anyway, my favorite guy in the movie wasn't Jude Law, by the way. of course, Law was so cool, may too nice? buy my favorite guy was "aloha" guy. ("aloha" guy was the other poler player to Portman, & he wasn't good looking, at all.)

http://blueberry-movie.com/main.html
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0765120/

***
I'm feeling like to see "chungking express" (『恋する惑星』ね) or "happy together" (『ブエノスアイレス』ね) on dvds.

small talks, we need!

today & yesterday, i was kind of nervous @office...because my co-woker M-san has been in trouble. she said to me, like...

「ガチンコ勝負ですからっ！！」

***
couple of weeks, our team was working on some issue related to my company's "big" project, but it was non of our team's scope, really. we did voluntarily, but the PM doesn't think that way, then M-san in my team has to deal with a insurance company for the project. (note: my team shouldn't work directly to those insurance companies at all.)

anyway, she is suddenly very busy, & unfortunately our boss is having day-offs, since i'm still very new to the company, i couldn't help her at all.

usually, M-san really likes small talks, like about 厄落とし or 社員の品格系, but from last night, she couldn't have small talks, then i felt like she got to irritate even she didn't say anything, something like this.

***
however, this evening she could overcome first phase, then she started small talks again. fu. i was relieved :)

have a nice weekend, M-san!

***
by the way, my kitchen is having trouble, too...oh, no!

today's his birthday

Heath Ledger was born on april 4th, 1979 (, and passed away january 22nd, 2008 as you may already know).

his third last movie "I'm Not There" is coming soon, & i should see it:
http://www.imnotthere.jp/

"how dose she know you love her?"

(you will see the ending here?)
last night, i saw the movie "enchanted" in shijuku with my ex-coworker A-san, after an exam class.

actually, A-san didn't want to see the movie at first since disney movies should be for children, but eventually she liked it :)

***
the story was like...Giselle (a princess of a fantasy land "andalasia") was exiled to today's new york, before her wedding.

she had no idea where she was, & was salvaged by a handsome divorced-divorce lawyer Robert (Patrick Dempsey).

Giselle originally liked to go back to andalasia, but she had feeling for Robert...

***
the story was not exactly fantasy. many ads explain that's why the movie is "new". however, the movie is nothing new in a good way. i mean it surprisingly follows a golden movie baseline, which is

"a girl meets a boy, & finds the true love."

***
of course, it was a happy-ending movie, but besides that, my point is happiness for three main character: Robert, Prince Edward, & Nathaniel (!).

Nathaniel was seduces by a bad witch/step mother (played Susan Sarandon), but after he got to new york following Giselle & Prince Edward, he saw a TV sitcom, then he realized that he wouldn't be able to get the witch's love!

in the end-title roll, he was becoming a bestseller writer, or something.

Robert & Edward found the true loves, of course.

my favorite song "that's how you know":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRYU4cqUAUs

***
you will see the ending there?

official site english:
http://adisney.go.com/disneyvideos/liveaction/enchanted/
japanese:
http://www.disney.co.jp/movies/mahokake/

***
by the way, this evening i was embarrassed a little bit.

when i typed some on a screen, i smelled something fried potatoes. then i asked about that to the osaka lade M-san, like...

me: "do you smell someone's having fried potatoes from a mac or something?"
M-san: "oh! it 's me. i'm starving & eating this."

she showed me a bag from a mac...

grappa!

last night, i went eating out with my ex-cowakers, A-san & N-chan, to a italian restaurant @roppongi, & that was fun time for i guess all three of us.

***
some how, i talked about interesting things in my new company. for example, translation team.

our company has a translation team, & one day i attended a meeting with them. since i was new to the meeting, i had a little speach in japanese, & i said, 「入社したばかりで右も左も分かりませんが。」 after the meeting, i was so wondering how the translator in the meeting explained about that.

A-san got, "i don't know anything about it, but..." something like that.

***
another translating story was... in a meeting, one guy (non-japanese, but asian) was too excited about the discussion, then a japanese guy said also in exciting, 「おまえにそんな事を言われる筋合いはないっ！！」 in べらんめい口調.

i believe a translator in the meeting translated that, but i don't know what she said...

N-chan, actually she is a translator as well, tried to translate, like "you are not authorized to tell me such a thing." （だったかな？）

***
by the way, most pleasant thing in the dinner was we got to know how to drink grappa really! (A-san & i tried once, but it was very very embarrassing...)

grappa: italian sprit made by vines, like shouchou or gin in italian. grappa is after meal alcohol, & have to drink "straight" so that we can enjoy pure taste & flavour of grappa.

to be honest, i was kind of too full & had a little stomach stiation, but after drinking a shot of grappa, it was gone!

& with favour of a sommelier @the restourant, we could try to drink three kinds of grappa! my favorite one was the last one, actually, it was not really grappa, the sommelier explained that, but it was so nice :)

maybe, i will try to visit the restaurant agiain, & drink different grappa to find the best one for me.

***
originally, we would have three more people, but unfortunately they had emergency situations, like family or business matter. it was petty, but maybe next time in the very near future!

teach someone! & tell three people, at least!!

recently, i get a new co-woker, M-san. she is an interesting osaka lady in my team, & this afternoon M-san & i talked about "education". sounds very academic, doesn't it?

***
actually, it was very casual talk.

i'm going to take an IT related certification exam, & my new boss kind of has pushed me to pass the exam, then M-san told me that...if i would like to pass the exam, i should teach her about the contents of the exam by using very easy worlds.

current my team is under a legal/complainace department, but very close to IT. on the other hand, M-san is not an IT person at all, so if i could explain her about the IT exam very well, means she dose understand even if she totally doesn't have IT background, i totally understand the contents of the exam...

M-san said, "teaching someone is #1 method for achieve the knowledge. #2 is studying by myself, & #3 is being taught from someone, right?"

also, M-san told me about a comedian Shinsuke Shimada. he tells that if someone gets a good funny story, he should tell the story three people at least & as soon as possible, then the story would be in good shape (小慣れた感じ？).

it's also true, isn't it??

***
by the way, today i saw cherry blossoms that will full bloom very soon.

後期高齢者医療と待機児童

（本日は日本語でお送りします。）
この春分の日のお休みを挟んで日本の抱える二つの社会問題を垣間みる機会がありました。二つの問題とは『高齢化社会』と『少子化』です。

＊＊＊
まずは高齢化社会から。

実は転職にあたって母と祖母を社会保険の扶養家族として申請しました。申請自体は通りましたが、一ヶ月もしない内に二人は強制的に扶養から離れる事になります。何故なら４月１日より７５歳以上の後期高齢者医療制度がスタートするからです。

後期高齢者医療制度とは、７５歳以上の国民、全員を対象にその保険料を対象者の年金から自動的に天引きされる健康保険の仕組みです。

どうやら相変わらずの「老人の医療費は、老人から」の発想ですが、年金、道路問題からも分かる様に、きちんと運営されていない政府から金だけ出せと言われて、「はい、はい、そうですか。」と素直に納得が出来るものなのでしょうか？国を運営している人達は、国民が納得の上、同意が得られると思っているのでしょうか？

ちなみに道路、年金、あたご問題と併せて「ＤＮＡ」と呼ぶそうですよ。

＊＊＊
次は少子化。

実家でたまたまTVを見ていた所、TBSの小倉弘子さんの産休直前のドキュメンタリーの様なレポートがやっていました。

小倉さんは、予定日一ヶ月前までニュースキャスターとして勤務し、産休に入られたそうですが、社会で活躍する女性にとっては、出産は大きな負担になる様です。

例えば０歳児保育。

小倉さんの予定日は３月だったのですが、年度の始め（＝４月）から預けないと待機児童として登録され、次の４月まで入園は出来ないそうです。しかし翌４月の時点では、小倉さんの赤ちゃんは既に１歳のため、０歳の待機児童に順番が先に回されてしまいます。

ここから分かる事実は、人間が社会の仕組みに合わせないと、十分な制度の恩恵を受けられないと言う事です。

何でも少子化対策委員会みたいなものがあるそうですが、一体全体、そこでは何を議論されているのか疑問です。

＊＊＊
今まで社会を支えてくれた世代と、これからを支える世代をないがしろにする社会に、未来はあるのでしょうか？

個人的には将来、子供を持つ事が考えにくいですが、昔ある人が「女性が自立出来なければ、男性も自立出来ない」と言っていました。「自立」を「安心して社会生活が送れる事」と置き換えると、今の日本では大変難しい様ですね。。。

moult & pupate

during cleaning, i was aware that my green caterpillar kun moulted（脱皮ね） & became a pupa（サナギになるね）.

these couple of days, he (she?) didn't eat anything, & eventually became not to move at all. i thought it died.

but this morning, i found he (she?) was trying losing his skin (almost finished), then i got what it meant. yes "moult". at that time, his head part was very very yellow green.

after i got to home in this evening (just now), i again found his yellow green part has tuned kind of brown & it's exactly silky.

now he (she?) is becoming a cocoon. & maybe become a butterfly... no it will be a moth!

calendars

since i'm having a relaxing rainy holiday, i decided to do house keeping things.

it means basically cleaning, then i've realized that somehow i have many calendars in my room. they are from my friend, a bank, a travel company, & my previous agent, buta why do i keep them?

one is enough, right?

"The Darjeeling Limited"

since i will be die if i couldn't see any movies within a week, going see a movie was the first priority for this weekend, then i saw "the darjeeling limited" in ebisu.

of-course, it was because my favorite actor Jason Schwartzman in the movie, but what i was surprised at was...the short film before the movie. it was a kind of a prequel of the darjeeling limited.

in the movie, there were only two main characters; Jason Schwartzman & Natalie Portman (!), & she was naked (!). listen, not "almost naked" or "seems to be naked". totally naked. Natalie, I'm proud of you!!

about the movie, it was a good load movie; i should say that. especially, clothing. if the story would have more connections among each small episode, it would be nice.

see production notes on videos (kind of heavy site, though):
http://www.foxsearchlight.com/thedarjeelinglimited/

***
by the way, before watching the movie, i went to a bali style head spa. i realized that my neck was really stiff, & head massage helped this recover.

i should go there (movie & head spa) once a while :D

isn't she lovely?

i, as her grand son, shouldn't say that, but isn't she really lovely?

***
YES, she is my lovely grand mother & she has turned ninety nine years old today. i just want to say to her,

"be your self as long as you like & please take care of me!"

yes, she always thinks of taking care of me, especially about eating!!