"Lip my stockings. Lip my stockings!!!"

This quote is from the scene in "Lost in Translation" where a...shall we say...escort visits Bill Murray's hotel room and volunteers her services. After a hilarious back and forth, he realizes that she wants him to rip her stockings. This scene and many many others make "Lost in Translation" a joy to watch. I initially saw it in November and thought it was very good but I was even more impressed with my recent second viewing. Sofia Coppola's writing and directing almost redeems herself from her "Godfather III" disaster. Almost. But seriously, she does a great job portraying the isolation one feels being alone in a strange land, and the relationships that can develop between similar lost souls. Scarlett Johannson's predicament was similar to Carrie Bradshaw's in the "Sex and the City" finale. Don't be surprised though if you feel jet-lagged at the film's conclusion.

Still in a Japanese mood, I caught some of the Yankees exhibition game today. They played the Yomiuri Giants at the sold-out Tokyo Dome. It's amazing how the Japanese people are even more enamored with baseball than Americans. One day I will have to make sure to visit the country, only after my trips to London and Rome though.