Ideasabound

Photo by Ceclia Chan   Every year the coordinators of the Namekuji (slug) festival ask me to start it off with an Odaiko solo called  "Hitoyosei". It is to call people to the main stage and get things going. I don't know if they ask me because I like playing solos and not afraid to perform or because I am the most visible foreigner in our community. Either way, for the past 5 or so years I have been starting the festival. Ever since I started Taiko, I have been playing with solos and mixing the feel of east and west. But when it comes to these solos, I try to stick to the foundation of Toko Ryu style taiko. This is the style of my group and many groups in the Mino basin (Gifu), a few in Hida (gifu), parts of Hokuriku (Fukui, Toyama, Ishikawa) and the Nagoya area. The big problem is that there are no formal "solos" or "hitoyose" for our group. So, I create them myself. I think of a feeling, look at how things have been in the weather and for th...

I woke up on my birthday and went to read the news. Those that know me well, know that I love space and science fiction. When I learned that Neil Armstrong had died, my first thought was not sadness but that he was old. After all people die; even the great ones and the heros. My second thought was that of the men who walked on the moon, only 8 remain. Buzz Aldrin (11), Al Bean (12), Edgar Mitchell (14), David Scott (15), John Young (16), Charles Duke (16), Gene Cernan (17), & Jack Schmitt (17). Of all the crews that flew on Apollo only the crews of 8, 9, 10, and 16 are all still with us. My birthday wish: Before all these men and the people who supported them leave us, we should be back in deep space. I would hope that before Gene Cernan and Jack Schmitt die (last men to walk on the moon) that we land humans back on the Moon or on Mars. Neil Armstrong will always be remembered for Apollo 11 but we must remember he was also the commander of the first in-space emergency; G...

What is a life proof? A life proof is made by taking an everyday, ordinary event and connecting it to history, culture, religion, languages, food, countries and even the universe in 60 to 70 sentences but using 90% of your own knowledge.  Writing a life proof is easy.  Write a simple sentence about something you did. i.e. “I made Pesto .”  Now take the last 1, 2 or 3 words from that sentence to start the next sentence. Basically the direct object becomes the subject for the next sentence. “ Pesto is made with Basil.”  Now using your own trivial knowledge, connect it onward to other things.  By the 60th or so sentence you should be getting close to returning to the original subject.  Of course just saying, “I made pesto” proves you did it; especially if a picture is provided. But connecting your menial task to the events of time and the universe certainly makes your 10 minutes of pesto making far more exciting.  You can connect anythi...

Jinternet (n) =blend of the Japanese word for people “jin” (人/hito) and “internet”. 人ターネット An ever growing network of friends of different backgrounds and walks of life from which one can share life lessons and knowledge. To jinternet (v) the process of meeting new people, sitting, talking, asking questions, listening and learning. Jinternetting is done in person. Neat and Simple, isn't it? Well I wish I could take full credit for it but I cannot. The idea of Jinternet came from a local friend by the name of Kusakabe Katsuhiko, a carpenter and father of three. While on a taiko and shishimai trip to Ise Shrine, we became acquainted and shared many perspectives on the world. He has not seen much of the world but grasps ideas through meeting people. He said, “I can’t use the internet worth a damn but I can use the Jinternet pretty darn well.” He explained that people use the internet to look things up and learn. He prefers to ask questions and listen. He knows that if the perso...

Do you eat? It's a simple question, right? Of course you eat. If you don't, you're not reading this and more likely dead. To many people, eating is the process of just putting food in your mouth, chewing and swallowing. It's a basic process of getting energy to survive. While dining, on the other hand, is a slower process and usually fancier too. What I am addressing is that action in daily life; the consumption of breakfast, lunch and dinner. In many cultures meals are still times to sit with family, friends and co-workers to build those relationships. It's a slow enjoyable process. In Japan before you eat you say "Itadakimasu" which is like saying "thank you for preparing this meal" and at the end you say "Gochisosamadeshita" which is like saying "It was a pleasure to have this meal". In reality what you're saying at the beginning and end is "thank you earth, thank you animals, thank you sun, thank you plants,...

Cultural Immersion comes in 10 types.  We tend to think of cultural immersion as one big leap into another cultural. But in reality there are possibly 10 different levels of cultural immersion. Each one is regulated by our own desires to step outside of our comfort zones and try new things. 1) Superficial Going out to a Chinese restaurant 2) Partially Simulated Foreign language class or local cultural festival, Foreign language radio and television, via Internet download / streaming, shortwave radio, or FTA satellite. 3) Simulated Example:  Concordia Language Villages 4) Limited Taking a trip abroad 5) Semi-Limited Backpacking abroad 6) Semi-Intensive University Study Abroad 7) Limited Intensive Living abroad in an urban location 8) Intensive High School Exchange Program 9) Semi-Extreme Living abroad in a rural location and have limited outside contact 10) Extreme Living or studying abroad in a rural location completely off the technology grid The lines b...