This is the best movie I’ve seen in a long, long time. Although this is partially because all other movies I’ve seen the past year or so sucked, it really was a damn good movie. Anthony Hopkins is the man. Simple story, simple plot, simple dialogue, flawless acting, no bad guy, no glamtastic CG, excellent cinematography, and just enough racing/greasemonkey scenes (like watching Hopkins cast his own pistons). Just a hunch, but I think gearheads like Gen and Gaijin Biker would especially get off on this movie if they knew that the bikes filmed on the Bonneville flats were Ducatis (not to dis the featured Indians or Triumphs, though).

Last night I watched a documentary on Flight 93, one I hadn’t seen before. Every time I see photos or footage from 9/11, it still makes me tear up a bit… Right after it finished, I watched the new episode in the great adventures of Jack Bauer. And suddenly, I understood why I’ve liked the show from the first episode I ever watched. There are some seriously evil fuckers in this world who just need killing. And I wish someone would hurry and send Jack after them.

In between RGB-to-CMYK travails for our wedding thank you cards, I watched the last episode of season 2 Battlestar Galactica and the first episode of season 6 Sopranos head-to-head last night. All I can say is, AWESOME! Battlestar has turned out to be one of the best series of the past couple years, and of course the Sopranos never disappoints – and as it turns out, I’m not even sad that it’s ending. It is time. Everybody’s making predictions about Tony dying and Paulie taking over the gang and selling the whole biz to the Russians, but that’s just superficial shit. I think the big point here is what happens…

Two days ago it was like spring had been kickstarted, sunny and warm (so sunny and warm that it created a huge fogbank on the coast, where it met with the cool air – it was like a huge cloud had set on the city). Yesterday it was cold, winter cold. Today it is sunny. Well, it was sunny fifteen minutes ago. Now I’m looking at a full-blown snowstorm outside the office windows. Mother Nature sure can be a fickle bitch. UPDATE: Now it’s sunny AND snowing. Which is actually kinda cool.

At the end of last year, Nam interpreted in Bangkok for a famous Yoshimoto comedienne, High Heel Momoko. They ended up hitting it off, and Momoko invited us to dinner this past weekend. This is how I, the guy who basically holds Japanese TV responsible for the heinous dumbing-down of the past few generations, found himself in a room full of famous people and their agents on Saturday night. It was thoroughly enjoyable. Momoko and her entourage are a close-knit group and at first there was of course a lot of industry talk going on, which was interesting in the sense that people who work in television are always viewing…

Nam just finished her last interview and it looks like she’s set to receive her PhD in March! ALL THESE YEARS OF STUDY AND WAITING ARE FINALLY GONNA PAY OFF!!!!! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! I AM SO FUCKING HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m alone tonight (she’s staying out in Nara), but I think I’ll drink to that anyway…

This quick Skype dialog made me feel like this year will be a good one. J: how’s your obachan? T: She is immortal. She had a fever 38 degrees for 1 week. But now, no fever. Came back to normal.

I did something quite strange this year. I bought a Christmas cake, and ate it. I have officially been in Japan for too long. The cake was tasty, though.

Why is it even news that Toyota is expected to overtake General Motors as the world’s top automaker? I don’t think anybody can dispute that Toyota makes better cars, or that they are the healthier company. The market wins out, right? Besides, GM has been shooting itself in the foot so persistently for so long, they might as well switch over to shoemaking.