Sometimes these little buggers are hard to see. After a cleaning, it peeped right out. This one came from a friend in Canada. Some may say it has a shy voice. I prefer to think if it as soft spoken but carries a big stick The experienced Uchi Buki player (inside blowing) would have great conversations with it.

It’s been quite a haul with Ping Chong’s Angels of Swedenborg. We started rehearsal in September and had performances out of town. Now there’s two more weeks at La MaMa E.T.C. in New York City. Buy tickets here: Now Paying at La MaMa!

We’ve had some great houses and press. See this recent critical review: http://www.edgenewyork.com/?125415

”...“Angles of Swedenborg” is not to be missed, as it is a seamless synthesis of all the elements.”

It’s been hectic the last few months with performances, the street festival workshop, repairs and commissions. On top of all that, I’ve also been invited to do a shakuhachi making workshop at Washington College on November 29th. It’s private but may be open for those who may just want to sit in and just watch.  I’ll have more details later. When it rains, it pours, in a good way . 

Also, since the show opened last week, I was able to finish some flutes I had on the work bench for some time. See the shop for some new instruments available now: http://yungflutes.com/shop/category/shakuhachi_for_sale

There’s a few more that will come up in the next few days. If you are looking for a Tensei 1.8 (either Jinashi or Jiari)  let me know ASAP.

This repair was quite fun as I got to exercise my fine art painting skills. I normally only use Honshu Red, Black or Shuai Urushi ( translucent brown) but the inlay bindings on this shakuhachi was sealed with a brown urushi (instead of the more common rattan). I wanted to match the original brown so I mixed Shuai and Honshu together. The three bindings around the bottom of the top section are the new ones. It took a while as the color changes during the curing process. I think these things are worth the wait.

Here’s a shot of award winning set designer Watoku Ueno with his assistants preparing the feathers for the stage. As I mentioned before, dancing on feathers is a heavenly experience.

Although it’s been a bit hectic, my partner and I make it a point to enjoy life. We took the kids to their cousins just outside of NYC where they had a fabulous time trick or treating. In a case you couldn’t guess, I dressed up as an East Village Hipster.

I was particularly proud of the kids this week.  We made a cup rack for Jet’s class and they had to collaborate on it. Each wanted a separate theme but found a way to work together on a shared vision while retaining their own original idea.  The solution - a Yin and Yang composition where flowers live happily side by side with deep sea creatures. They even installed the rack together.  Oh, what our world leaders can learn from our children.

Namaste, Perry