Last day of a six day holiday!

It was my mistake to sleep until 11AM! The day went by so quickly as it was around 3PM when I finally finished writing about 50 more cards!
Trying to finish the holidays in a nice way, I asked my wife to accompany me out for a walk in the park... I'm sure she was the one who would have loved to, but I knew she was worried if I'd finish writing the greeting cards on time!
The stroll in the park was pleasant. It was warm and many families were picnicking running around with soccer balls!

Pics in the park... so peaceful...

nice day to take a walk!

many people were enjoying the day in their own ways!

and the favorite family sport is soccer! we spotted a lot of girls kicking the ball wearing the skarf on their heads!

so many beautiful flowers!

sakura!? cherry blossoms!?

In the nighttime, we decided to setup the game console that my wife bought in Tokyo. So many of her colleagues and friends gave us softwares and peripherals for the console as a "marriage gift" for both of us and as a "retiring gift" for my wife!


it works fine!
we had a tough time to be used to the remote controllers!

PS
In the morning, reports of Japan winning the WBC was already out... It seemed to have been a very exciting championship game and I was quite sad I couldn't share the excitement together with my friends in Japan and the US... Oh well, someday I'll get to go to see a game in the future! Inshallah!

The momentum

I saw the highlight of the Monday Night Football match between my favorite 49ers and the wobbly Cardinals on CNN International, and I saw they were just one yard short of a victory with the interim coach in his second game. Just looking at the conclusion, it's easy to blame any stupid mistake the team had made would have changed the winner. I really doubt that. If it weren't for the crisis mode in the red zone, under the less than a minute situation, it probably didn't become a one yard game, and if they had more time to execute the last play, I'm sure they would've made another mistake like commiting a penalty. It's the same situation for the Tigers who gave up a 13 game lead in the pennant race and handing the throne to the greedy but ambitious Giants, but if they didn't have that crazily overpowering lead, the Tigers probably would have had a different outcome, perhaps even winning the pennant much earlier. The 2cm win by Vodka at the Emperor's Cup is another example. With Daiwa Scarlet returning from a seven month rest, Vodka was ready to run after losing the race three weeks before running the race as the forth runner but losing only by inches to a horse without much pressure.
All of these results were altered by the momentum. Once the spirit is lost, the result will never be positive, but once you find the magical touch you will overcome the great wall literally by inches.
It was the Cardinals that still holds the momentum winning four in a row at home and the 49ers losing six games in a row. Even if the undefeated Titans are winning 9 in a row, if they lose the last game of the regular season, I doubt that they would even make it to the Super Bowl. They'd rather lose one soon and win the rest. Then I'm sure they'll win until the end.
Now I don't have the momentum. Right now nothing seems to be going in the right direction and I can't find the spirit that will get me rolling again; that would give me a natural smile when I interact with anyone.
I want the momentum again so I can feel comfortable and awaken the magic inside me. I really don't need any overwhelming power. I just want the confidence that will give me the last inch I need to succeed!

A big disgrace!

A holiday that I would have wanted to take a day off and sleep all the way, but I woke up at around 10AM awaken with a mysterious door bell (no one was at door when I rushed to the entrance).

I went to my office to start working from around 11AM, but it was surely not a good feeling to see that the plunge in the global markets were even going further. Another sad and frustrating news I saw during my working hours was the money-mad ball club had ousted my favorite teams chance to make a come back winning the pennant. Oh how bad can you get than the slipping global market, losing the top spot after a 13 games lead earlier in the season!

the Tigers were still leading and the Giants tied with their opponents in the earlier stage of the matches...

When you look at the team roster and today's starters, you would understand how bad this conclusion is to the younger generation. (Oh, I'll take this back if you would agree that earning money is the most important thing in life. I bet there's tons of people like that so I bet you're a big fan of the champions!)

Today's starters (+stopper) of the teams along with their earnings (figure of 10,000 yen)

Tigers
1 CF Akahoshi 18,000
2 3B Sekimoto 5,000
3 1B Arai 12,300
4 LF Kanemoto 55,000
5 SS Toritani 9,100
6 RF Lin 4,500
7 C Yano 19,000
8 2B Hirano 4,600
9 P Shimoyanagi 17,500
(RP Fujikawa) 28,000
Salary total: 173,000

Giants
1 CF Suzuki 3,000
2 2B Kimura 6,500
3 3B Ogasawara 38,000
4 LF Ramirez 50,000
5 1B Lee 60,000
6 RF Kamei 1,400
7 C Abe 24,000
8 SS Sakamoto 850
9 P Greisinger 25,000
(RP Kroon) 30,000
Salary total: 238,750

Everybody knows Ogasawara, Ramirez, Lee were all the number one clean-up batters for Fighters, Swallows, and the Marines respectively who later all struggled substantially without their central figure. Greisinger was the top pitcher of the Swallows and Kroon was the Bay Stars' ace reliever.
The Tigers are also blamed of stripping "Aniki" Kanemoto in 2003 and his apprentice Arai this year (who eagerly participated in the Beijing Olympics finding a broken bone after the Games coinciding with the major slip his team experieced both in China and in Japan), both from the Hiroshima Carp which surprisingly almost made it to the playoffs finishing 4th in the league. But can we compare this to a greedy team who stripped the hopes of 4 teams so easily with lucrative gold!?
The starting pitchers were also significant as Shimoyanagi was an old one looking for a better payment with the Fighters who were not hesitant to let him go with a shaky record in 2002 and after six years with the Tigers, he is now considered as the hopeful "around 40" trio along with "Aniki" and Yano who was traded from the Dragons in 1997, giving hope to the elders facing "restructuring" because of the age factor, in the business world.
It was a miracle for the greedy team to win the pennant from 13 games behind, but it has also taught the young ones that money is everything and in that way the winner has shown how Capitalism really triumphs even in the sports world like the European football teams. So to win, you should use your money and strip the others of their hopes so they would dare not to counter you!
I'm starting to feel like the Iranian President always attacking the money-mad Capitalists and Zionists as I really feel it is a disgrace to lose to such a team that symbolizes greed... Well what can I say!?
"Death to them... Wipe them off the map... Their days are limited..."
Sadly, I feel quite vacant, and that's where I might disagree with the chief exectutive of the Islamic Republic...
It's only sports, that's all I could say. It's only baseball...

For a change... but small progress...

I was in central Tokyo today... looking for some answers about our filming in Japan... I think we can get something, but it's not a breakthrough...
Oh well, with limited time till I leave Japan, I have to go on with what I have at hand!

Hanging around

the Otemachi area

I was at least happy to see the Tigers win!

only on the web though...

I have to work... not sleep...

They say there was a storm in the morning... but I had nothing to do with it... I was sleeping all day. Yes I'm tired and I know why. I had so much work to do... but that's not a problem for me now... Sleeping is the best way to tackle the problem, so I'm not hesitating to sleep... Zzz...

When I woke up it was baseball time. It was quite annoying I had to leave with Kyuji in the middle of turmoil with runners loading the bases giving up a 2 run lead...

I reached my office...

hey they won! how did Kyuji save the game!?


there were only a couple of flowers left in each branch of the cherry blossom trees... there they go...

A cold weekend?

I don’t know if I’m lucky but I felt sorry for those people who wanted to enjoy their weekend with the full bloom cherry blossoms. Assigned to the daytime shift I had no choice but to go to work so I had no worries I’ll miss them this year. I also hear that tomorrow will be another cold day, but who cares… I have the night shift!

I was watching the second ballgame of the season for my favorite team and they won a close game. I was a little shocked I’d forgotten that the season started yesterday and I missed to watch a great game, but that was all blown away when I saw today’s.


hurray ANIKI!

Blank... just outta luck...

On the way to my office, I was reading the sports newspaper and was considering about which filly and mare I will buy with Vodka.
Right before going into the day shift, the breaking news came in from Kyodo...

Unbelievable...

Vodka is out of the race! she cancels her entry!!

My mind went blank. Literally blank.
I was looking forward to see the race 6 hours later, but everything went blank!

With almost no interest...

Daiwa Scarlet, without her rival, wins her third grade one race easily...
Fusaichi Pandora and Sweep Tosho who will retire after this race followed...

The two minutes and eleven seconds was just dull and even tedious.
Daiwa jumped to the front position, and no filly or mare came in front of her till the end...
BORING...

After attending a meeting with presentations about Iraq, I headed home.
At around 9PM, it started to rain again, and though I had a portable umbrella, I took the rain pouring on my head, as I just wanted to be soaked on this unlucky day...

Back at home, the Asian Series between the Chunichi Dragons and SK Wyverns was tied at 5 runs apiece.

SK tied the game with a two run homer in the 8th inning...

The desperate Dragons scored a run on top of the 9th to take the lead but... the broadcast ended before going in to the bottom of the inning!
How unlucky can I get!!
(by the way, the Dragons went on to win the Asian Championship... with no live coverage... )

Learning about...

The HOT SPOT... or maybe the HOTTEST SPOT!

the all but famous... or rather infamous IRAQ

It was an important day for me, as I had to revive and reorganize my knowledge about this country, so I can get started to make way for new data to store into the slots of my brain.
I learned a lot today, and of course I renewed my understanding that I have to learn much more to catch up with this hottest issue on earth. The Turkish-Kurds conflict on the north, the Iranian pressure on the east, and the instability full of refugees in the west...
The keywords of the day... the "Shiite Crescent" and the "Arc of Instability"!

P.S.
During the study hours at night...

the Dragons had won their first national championship title in 53 years... I couldn't see this historic victory... but who cares!

Entering a new stage...

Start of a busy week.
It could also be an important one for me to go on with my career.
Let's see where I'm standing on Friday when everything's over!

It's all over at Colorado...

sweep! alert message from CNN while I was in overnight duty...
pitcher Hideki Okajima almost blew it again bombarded with a two-run homer that tightened the match to a one-run game, but the Red Sox held on to win their fourth in a row to sweep the Series!

I still had a headache today.
I think it's coming from my aching shoulder and neck. I need to get my upper part of the body straightened out soon or I'm going to have a headache forever!

Not feeling well...

It's not good at all to work on weekends, but with a day shift to cover every Sundays, there's no way I can spend a stress-free weekend...

aftermath of the typhoon attack... but it was a crisp morning with sunshine!

I watched the third game of the World Series while I was on duty...

Matsuzaka-san's performance was not perfect... but just enough to earn a first ever Japanese pitcher's victory starting at the World Series!

And in the afternoon...

Meisho Samson was the winner of the Emperor's Cup (Autumn), capturing his 4th crown, this time with Yutaka Take... Admire Moon was no where in sight, and Pop Rock finished fourth with Cosmo Bulk following in fifth place...

I had a headache at night, and went right away to bed after taking a bath. I hope it gets better tomorrow, as I must go into the day shift starting off another pretty busy week!

Out of season typhoon attack!

As I repeatedly had mentioned, I just hate the rain, especially when it rains so strongly out of season.
A typhoon rarely attacks us on October, but three years ago, the 23rd typhoon crossed the nation killing nearly a hundered.
Today's typhoon (No.20) was not deadly, but very annoying. I got all wet after I attended an event held by an NGO at Kagurazaka.
To stay away from the rain, I took my car around today, but since the toll parking lot was 3 blocks away from the hall the event was held, a round trip to my car just got me soaked.
And the total parking fee I payed today was... 900+1400+1800=4100 yen!

typhoon alerts everywhere!

The best way to avoid the rain and get something to eat was...

to get some hamburgers going through a drive-thru!

At night...

Darvish was marvelous as he powered down the Dragons in the first game of the Nippon Series!

Winning at the end...

We all want to be the ones that win at the end.
Winning at the end erases all the ruinous performances in the past, and this multiple million dollar pitcher from Japan did just what he needed to remain a hero at the last game, after being a failure in Game 3.

together with a fellow Japanese middle reliever, the Sox reach the World Series where they will battle for the Ring against another Japanese player, "Little Matsui" of Colorado

Oh yes, but anyone could be a winner in the end unless we give up...
So who cares about the failures I produce now...
Because I'm not going to give up!!

Stove league's on the way

Officially, it was a day off for me , but unofficially I had to work to keep my challenges alive to file a news story no one would care to cover.
I can't make anything sensational and I know my organization will not grant me any freebees, and I'm already uncomfortable working in an environment where reporters and producers with concessions and veins of ore keep winning.
With a transfer, my multiple and various lodes that are quite valuable within my nation have not helped me and without their power it's tough to find the lodestones that could grant me an international plane ticket.
Well, I'm not planning to become a snob and I will not let go of my lodes that will surely help me in the future as a journalist and maybe not as some temporary international dandy.

While the Dragons capture the first game of the second stage of the climax series, and the Fighters clinch the Nippon Series berth for the Pacific League, my favorite team is starting their surgical operations.
Stove league has started already with the other teams, and they've already decided to cut this man of merit.

today he said he'll quit playing ball if he's cut...
thanx a lot Andy!
we're grateful you've been with the team!

The lights are out...

Next year... next year...
The baseball season's over! Bye-bye!
　:'-(　 (T_T)
I'd already forgotten about the game... but when I started to watch the new serial TV drama...

uhh... what a spoilsport!

Central League Climax Series 1st Stage
Game 2
T 3 - 5 D (Nagoya Dome)
(Tigers eliminated from playoff)

Hangin' by a thread...

With a loss to the Dragons, my favorite team is on a edge of a cliff. They will surely bring the young pitcher that is always a sure to kill tomorrow... Maybe with a low scoring game, like a lucky 1-0 edge, my favorite team might stay alive...

Central League Climax Series 1st Stage
Game 1
T 0 - 7 D (Nagoya Dome)
(Dragons lead series 1-0)

After finishing covering a part of the day shift, I went out to eat dinner in Shinjuku, and at home it was time for consideration...

About which filly will become the real queen of their generation!

With the miraculous Derby winner Vodka making it to the race after giving up running at Longchamp this year's Shuka-sho deserves to be the race for the title of queenship.
But the top favorite right now is Daiwa Scarlet, who beat Vodka at the Ouka-Sho for the win, who also captured the preliminary race, the Rose Stakes without a sweat.
And the best rider of Japan is on Bella Rheia, who finished 1/2 horse lengths behind Daiwa at the Rose Stakes and only a nose short of winning the Oaks.
These three fillies' betting odds were all lined up at 12/5 at 3:27PM today. Well, everybody knows it's a tight race for the top position between these three fillies!
But GI winners Robe Decollete (Oaks) and Pink Cameo (NHK Mile Cup) are contenders along with a handful of other fillies (I'm counting on Rain Dance and Zarema) ...

Let's see who will win the most exciting filly race in decades!

and I will bet everything on my favorite filly!

Didn't work out...

I tried to sleep as much as I can, but I had appointments in the afternoon and at night before going into overnight work.
I was already tired when I went into my shift! This shift business isn't really working out for me!!

Japanese baseball's regular season is over... And this great catcher is finally stepping down at 42.

being both the manager and a player didn't work out for him... nobody's perfect!

A loser...

I didn't wanna be the loser. But I felt like I was today...

There were so winners around the globe.

Little Matsui's Rockies sweep the series over the Philies and the French beat the unbeatable All Blacks at the quarterfinals...

As many as there are winners, there are losers.
Tonight, I might have been one of the latter.
But that could always change as long as I'm alive!

SSS: Start of the second semester!

A lot of things started today in Japan.
And... there were so many news to cover, making the news about Burma underrated...

Mr. Prime Minister on stage, Japan Post Group is born, and the earthquake early warning system sees the light of day...
bunch of sports news with the great Brett Favre breaking all time NFL record of TDs, and Mr. Iguchi clinching division title again in a different team, the Phiiies, and in Japan, the Tigers finally clinch playoff berth...

Catastrophically terrible...

I'm quite sure it was one of the worst days of my life.
Terrible... catastrophically terrible...
In the morning I couldn't stay awake as I dropped off to sleep for a couple of hours around 5AM. I hardly remember Iranian Prez Ahmadinejad's speech...
I had to work all day till night and with each hour...

the situation at Burma worsened... reports of clashes, turmoil and sadly... deaths...

The chance to win the pennant for the Tigers collapsed completely tonight...
I missed the bus, and a road construction blocked my way home taking a cab...
Nothing went as I hoped today.
NOTHING!

Sinking...

After spending a splendid night at Tokyo Bay, I had to work...

oh, good thing I always have a folding umbrella... it started to rain, just after I started heading for my office...

While working on the Burmese protests at night shift. the most shocking news was that the Chunichi Dragons had lightened their Magic Number 7 for the pennant. The Tigers are now sinking with their fifth straight loss... oh... like the ship is sinking...