22 June 94 ~4pm Interesting Thing(s) In The News this morning -- --> Because of so many people leaving bikes in certain places (in Tokyo, I assume) a person made bike lockers for people to put their bikes into -- it would open from a card and something would push the bike out. --> in a commercial, a little disk w/ incense in it that one lights and put on the shoulder -- the disk heats up and supposedly relaxes the shoulders. In a similar commercial, one places the product on the shoulders and it pulses to massage. --> I had forgotten that Hosokawa still is in the Diet (since they work on a parliamentary system here) and has been called to testify as to what his unethical actions were [this was the summer Japan went through about 3 prime ministers. I think Hosokawa was booted because of some scandal] --> there's an interesting fight going on bet. JR East and a magazine that is running a series on labor/management relations at JR East. In any case, JR East has forbidden the sale of magazines at their train stations and the magazine is trying to get a court order to disallow them this and JR East is trying to get a court order to prevent its sale anywhere. --> North Korea. Who knows what is going on w/ them? Clinton, etc. had been prepared for sanctions and all sorts of things, but Carter made them back down some. --> O.J. Simpson --> the premier of WOLF w/ Jack Nicholson I bought several books today -- Agatha Christie, Orson Scott Card, Martin Gardner, Isaac Asimov, Arthur Conan Doyle. It's going to take a long time to get through them, but hopefully I will. I got to find a place that takes Visa or does cash advances or something. Class isn't that difficult - yet. My main goal is to be able to read Japanese anyway -- I hope I'll be able to soon. I've been thinking of what I want to eat when I get home. The food has gotten a little -- weirder -- I found out last night that they had been making the baths a little cool -- the water was so hot it shocked my skin and my limbs felt numb. But actually it felt pretty good - you just have to get in slowly. My arm hurts -- later.