Mariners and Swallows Fan. Tony breaks the Ipad! A Monthly Ritual performed. A weekly ritual comes to an end. Go Kings!

• I taught a Japanese student in a one-on-one class at school Saturday.  I had to ask him if he was a baseball fan.  He told me he was a fan of the Tokyo Swallows.  When I asked him about MLB teams, he told me he was a fan of the Mariners who had the greatest Japanese player ever on their roster:  Ichiro Suzuki.  I was quick to tell him I saw Ichiro play in 2001 in Seattle.
• I didn't broach the topic of the wildcard.  I was inclined to like him for the moment. (rare readers may know that I consider the wildcard in baseball to be a heresy, and that anyone who supports should be burned at home plate.)
• Tony dropped the Ipad Saturday.  It is not the first time he did it but it could be the last.  This time, he broke it, taking a chip off the corner.
• The Ipad is still operational, but the damage is such that it can only get progressively worse over time.  The screen, says Jenny, is not tight.  I am hoping that we can fix it.
• Expensive machines and gadgets are nice till you break them and then you feel an ache that goes down deep in the soul.
• I took my case of empty Tsingtao Bottles to the small shop near Casa K.  I like the relationship I have with the shop keepers. It is all very casual and trusting. I drop the case of the empties at the front, and go to back corner of the shop where the cases of full bottles are stacked and serve myself.
• This is the first weekend in probably over two years in which I won't be downloading the Radio Derb podcast.  What a shame.  I was always so interested in what his take on current events was.  Agree with him or not, his take was usually original, incisive and always worthy of consideration.  I hope that John Derbyshire is able to continue making Radio Derb podcasts.
• There is a Fart App for the Ipod.  Why I am not surprised?  As soon as I thought of it myself, I knew that it just had to be.
• Tony is now playing with my Ipod Touch.  Arrghh!!!
• As soon as I leave the school on Sunday (which is an AKIC Friday), I don't see a foreigner till I get back to work on Wednesday (which is AKIC Monday).  I had another teacher today tell me this is probably a good thing.  Too many drunks he told me.  I would add that there are too many Leftists as well.
• The Canucks are down two games to nothing in their first round Stanley Cup playoff series with the Los Angeles Kings.  The eighth seeded Kings won the first two games of the series on the top-seeded Canucks home ice.  Till the riots of last year, I would have felt sorry for the Canucks.  Now, all I can say is Go Kings Go!!  Sweep the sons-of-bitches!  It would be a fascinating sociological experiment to see if Canucks fans will destroy their downtown again.
• And while I am at it!  Go Rangers!   Kick the Senators ass!  Nothing good comes from Canada's national capital.
• Who do I actually want to win the Stanley Cup in 2012?  Rangers, Blues or Sharks.  The Rangers haven't won the Cup in 16 years.  The Blues and Sharks never have.  The Canadiens and Jets are in the playoffs so really, what's the point?