THE LEFT LANE
Call it Buffyology

We're not sure exactly what it means when academics take to deconstructing Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but Slayage, an online "journal of Buffy studies" delivers. Titles for these scholarly dissertations range from "There Will Never Be A Very Special 'Buffy'" to "Why Can't We Spike Spike?" Check it out at slayage.tv.

Ever sewn up your very own Kikaida suit, detailed down to the whirring gears in mecha-Jiro's head? The creators of Trivial Pursuit may be looking for someone like you to immortalize as a question in the game's 20th Anniversary Edition.

Questions must fit into one of six new Trivial Pursuit categories. Submit them with a short essay providing specific details of your trivial factoid. Winners also get $500 in cash. To enter, go to trivialpursuit.com by 11:59 p.m. Monday. The game will be released next fall by Hasbro.

Beyond words

Years ago at a food writer's conference, I met Elizabeth Andoh, author of an excellent Japanese cookbook and an official of the Japan-America Society. We chatted amiably, then Andoh turned away.

I called a farewell to Andoh-sama in my extremely limited Japanese and an amazing thing happened: She had walked away American but she turned around Japanese. Her hands flew toward her knees, fingers graciously held together, her head bowed and her eyes directed respectfully away as she thanked me in a voice that was up at least an octave.

This is the distinction that writer Andre Horvat has tried to draw in "Japanese Beyond Words: How to Walk and Talk Like a Native Speaker" (Stone Bridge Press, paper, $14.95).

Horvat, a Tokyo-based writer and broadcaster, will speak at a breakfast program sponsored by the Japan-America Society at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday in the Plaza Club Pacific Room. Cost is $15 for members, $18 nonmembers. Reservations must be made by Monday. Call 524-4450 or e-mail ayoshiko@jashawaii.org.

Sounds for solace

Terrorist attacks, bad economy, Enron got you down? Take two sonatas and relax.

The Cleveland Institute of Music has published a list of reflective and uplifting classical music pieces for people seeking "solace in the power of music." School officials had long considered publishing a listening guide, but after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, they decided the need was more urgent.

Students and faculty at the 81-year-old music school suggested pieces "that they turn to in times of crisis or for inspiration."

The selections then were compiled into a brochure, organized by genre — orchestral, piano, vocal and chamber music. You can access the listings on the Web at cim.edu/listening.asp.