Shout Out to Ben

Ben from Ohio was the very first person to respond to my nunchaku picture post. When I posted the "Triple String" tutorial, I sent him the YouTube link and in this next video, I thank him for his interest and answer some follow-up questions.

New Logo Design

I figured since I spent hard earned money on Adobe Photoshop, I ought to figure out how to use it. Here's a logo I'll use to intro my video posts on YouTube.

You're looking at the utaguchi or the mouthpiece end of a shakuhachi flute. My YouTube posts will have a few notes played underneath.

Cup O' Joe

Here's my first musical post. I'm breaking in this new Big Baby Taylor Guitar. It's got great projection and a bright tone. Now and then, I flub or buzz a note or two. But as "we" grow together, the more fluid we'll become. Enjoy.


Notes: 1) Yeah, I should have shaved. 2) No, that's not a double-chin. I've got a 21-inch neck...all muscle! 3) I'm wearing gym shorts. 4) At the end, I'm imagining Starbucks goes out of business. 5) Those are nunchaku hanging on the wall.

This is Just Silly

Japanese TV Show: Silent Library

Vintage Karate Lesson for David Bowie

This clip is from the Dinah Shore Show from 1975. Sound advice that still applies.


Bowie hasn't changed much, has he?

I Want One!

Uchinaguchi is Making a Comeback

The people of Okinawa almost lost their native language. In my youth, I thought since Okinawa was part of Japan that they always spoke continental Japanese. After I started practicing karate, my sensei encouraged me to do historical research. Most karateka (practitioners) know the story of the Satsuma invasion and annexation of the Ryukyu Kingdom. The banning of swords led to the development of kobujutsu (improvised weapons) and uchinadi (empty hand fighting).

Like several other indigenous peoples such as Australian Aborigines, New Zealand Maori, Native Americans, and even recent immigrants and their children to the USA subject to the education policies of the 1970's (Assimilation-Acculturation models), the Uchinanchu (Okinawans) were compelled to stop speaking their language and use Japanese since the 1800's.

Recently, the elder population of Okinawa have been promoting the use of Uchinaguchi (Okinawa Hogen). They have opened schools and sponsored speech competitions in order to promote and preserve their native language. Of all places to find resources for preserving Uchinaguchi is here in the USA. Southern California and the Mid-West have the largest concentrations of Uchinanchu population outside of Okinawa. Some of these elders were interned along with Japanese-Americans during WWII. Without the influence of the Japanese education system, these native speakers have been speaking pre-WWII Uchinaguchi. There are also other populations in South America.


Yaeko Yokota competing in a language tournament in December 2007.
The subtitles are for people who only speak Japanese!

Byron Fija, son of an American, grew up in Okinawa and teaches the Uchinaguchi he learned from all the "aunties" and "uncles" that raised him.

How to Triple String Your Nunchaku

Wow! Making this video was truly an exercise in patience, endurance, and humility ALL wrapped up in one project. I trashed my original footage and shot/edited what you see below. I'm learning "the ropes" as I go with all this non-linear video, various compression algorithms, and bit rates. Life was much easier during the analog years.

Anyway, I 86'ed the idea of narrating over this tutorial. Speaking was what slowed down the original project in the first place. Just follow along with each of the steps, pause and rewind where you need more detail. (Ocassionally, the two rods are tied together, near the wide ends. This was done for ease of videography. It's actually easier to leave the rods loose.)



Tools & Supplies: 4 piece probe set (from hardware store); parachute cord (#650); rope cutter (or scissor); mini torch (avoid short matches, melted nylon drips); sand paper (to knock down splinters/raised grain); flashlight (when peering down bores); tape measure (to check for equal endplay).

Heavy Metal "Nunchaku"

Yup...the band's name is Nunchaku. From what little I can understand underneath all the power chords and screaming, I'm gonna slap an "MA" (Mature Audience) rating on the lyrics.



I'm using this song to help motivate me to finish editing my first tutorial video which should be done tomorrow. Faster, faster!

Disaster!

Sorry folks...I shot one hour's worth of video and then paired it down to ten minutes as YouTube requires. But, my file size was still way too big (2.1 Gigs).

I cut the video into two halves (planning to post them as "part 1" and "part 2" and then my 'puter started screaming for more disk space. I inadvertantly lost some scene information in the second half as I was transferring the project to my external drive. For some reason, I couldn't recover the data from Premiere's autosave file.

Luckily, I exported the entire file in .avi format before the disaster struck. So, I can use that video to guide my "new and improved" version.

Looking back now, even though I spent the whole weekend working on this, I'm seeing this as a blessing in disguise: This project's pace was way too slow. This video shouldn't be any longer than five minutes. What was I thinking?

A few things I know I need to do: Get a proper lighting kit and a higher resolution camera. And, I need some kind of workshop to do these "how to" demos.

It's almost 3:00 AM and that's the reason why I shelving this failed project. But don't worry. As promised, I will post video on how to re-string nunchaku using the "triple string" method.

At least I got to teach a student this morning (uh no, that was yesterday morning).

I need sleep,
Ernie - Chief Lab Rat