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Kelvin and I just finished our workshop with Denver Taiko and Mirai Daiko. We taught them “Omiyage” a piece that I originally wrote for TAIKOPROJECT and have since released under a free art license as a gift to the North American Taiko community. Bryan Yamami first conceived of a piece called “Omiyage” for TAIKOPROJECT (re)generation that TAIKOPROJECT would workshop to the various communities it would visit. I have Kris to thank for expanding the “Omiyage” concept in terms of releasing it under a free art license. My work and On Ensemble’s music and recordings are released under a more restrictive creative commons, attribution non-commercial, share-alike license, but I often have interesting conversations with Kris’ regarding free art and admire his commitment to the concept. I wanted to do something under the free art license and “Omiyage” was a logical choice. We’re working on putting together more free art work for the taiko community including more pieces and programs like “30 days to better shime”.

Watching “Omiyage” grow and take on a life of it’s own has been very rewarding. Yuta Kato did a lot to refine the choreography of the piece and spread it through workshops from Long Island to Hawai’i. Maz and the TAIKOPROJECT cast continues to refine their version of the piece and I keep finding more and more YouTube videos of groups performing the piece. There is even a group from Japan posting “Omiyage” videos.

Denver Taiko and Mirai Daiko did and fantastic job and learning the piece and I’m looking forward to seeing where they take “Omiyage” and who they teach it to!

Just finished work on EP 4! FoundatiOn Team look for it soon! I’ll post more about EP 4 soon! Kelvin and I hit the road today heading out to the East Coast. Our first stop will be for a workshop with Denver Taiko tomorrow, then it’s off to Brattleboro then on to New York. More later!

Happy New Year!

2008 was a fantastic year for On Ensemble. We released our first live CD “Ukiyo”, our second DVD “Live at the Cerritos Center”, and finished our second studio album “Ume in the Middle”. We had tours to New York, Vermont, North Carolina, Minnesota and Washington and had our busiest year of performances to date! We also set a new FoundatiOn Team record and launched a new website! Kris’ received his natori, and I got to perform with Stevie Wonder and the Democratic National Convention.

Along with all of the high points it was also a year of great personal challenges and loss. I’d like to thank everyone who reached out to Emi and I for their kindness and compassion. Even small gestures went a long way in helping us get through difficult times. As I reflect back on 2008 I can’t help but feel blessed to have been supported with such compassion. Thank you.

Just a quick update: drove back to Los Angeles on Christmas day after a great but short holiday vacation in Mt. Shasta.  Heading up to Seattle tomorrow for a gig with Hiroshima at the Snoqualmie Casino.  Really hope the weather cooperates:)

As design work continues on the mobile home, I’ve recently read a number of books regarding architecture. I have tried to limit myself to information that can be had freely online and from books that can be borrowed from the library. What follows are a few thoughts on the ethics of building a home, and a review of the books and publications I’ve read thus far.

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Just wanted to wish everyone Happy Holidays!

Hope everyone is having a great holiday season! Maz and I are up in Mt. Shasta. The flights from LAX to Redding have been horrendous. Maz’ flight was canceled and he eventually had to fly into Sacramento instead and my sister’s flight from LAX to Redding tonight was 4 hours late! Sigh… can’t wait for that transporter technology to become cost efficient.

A number of friends have asked me recently (hi Rachel and Jason!) what I used to manage my and On Ensemble’s calendars.  The following post explains my calendaring system based on Free Software, using easily-portable text files.

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I love building stuff, especially furniture. But before you imagine finely-crafted, oak and brass masterpieces, my furniture is more… um… experimental. I use 2×4s and plywood, and very simple tools.

Here is my current desk.  (Click on the pictures for larger versions.)

Read on for a photo-retrospective of some of my past furniture, along with tips and tricks for making your own things! The post is rather long… my apologies if the page loads slowly.

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