I met Lassie— Drip Of Death!

There's an expression in Swedish translated as "I met Lassie"; it signifies an accidental and somewhat pointless encounter with the rich and famous. Can be things like seeing a political pundit in the supermarket line, having a c-level celebrity ask you for directions, or that sort of thing. Perhaps "A brush with fame" has similar connotations.

A couple of years ago, on my way to work, I spotted a small lizard on the walkway by the Kita-Ikoma train station. I was trying to take a picture of it (I failed) when an older, affable man on the way to the station stopped to look. We got to talking; he's a doctor at a clinic in Osaka and lives in Kita-Ikoma so he commutes the opposite way from me. Since then we often greet each other when we meet in the morning, exchange brief pleasantries, complain about the weather and so on. Seems like a fun guy.

So this morning he waves at me as we meet and pulls out a book: 死の点滴 — "Drip Of Death" — a harrowing mystery of poisonings, murder and hospital intrigue. A mystery that, it turns out, he wrote. And it has now been filmed as an episode for Fuji TV's weekly drama and mystery series, to be broadcast on the 17th of this very month.

Now, I'm sure it's not an immortal classic or anything (what, the title doesn't give that away?) but it's not everyday your random commuter acquaintance turns out to be a published author as well.