I recently made an announcement of my travel plans this summer and already a few repairs came in. I will be traveling from June 29 - Aug 7th. If you need a repair, contact me ASAP as I will not be accepting any shipments after June 17th. (this Friday). This one is a 2.1 and needs 15 inlays. A repair like this is quite time consuming as inlays require the cutting precision of a surgeon. And, with the added urushi work in the bore to seal the cracked plaster, it will take nearly two weeks to complete.

I was was playing a newly restored Tensei 1.8 on the stoop this week when the mail man showed up with a box of Japanese Madake bamboo I order from Kinya, my shakuhachi making teacher in Japan.

Earlier in the week, on another street cleaning day, I sold a CD as I was playing the flute on the stoop. A worker from across the street heard me playing and ask where if could buy this music on Amazon. I said well, if you want this actual music, the only place to get it is from me - through my website or buy it directly now. He opted for the later so I went upstairs and got a CD as he kept an eye out for the street cleaner. I’m almost sold out of the first printing of Zen Garage and will order more soon.

Once I got inside and opened the box, I was elated to find another batch of beautiful raw stock. This bamboo comes from a professional bamboo digger who is Kinya’s personal supplier for his professional 1.8 stock. For the longer Jinashi stock, Kinya picks his own. I also have a stash of my own Japanese harvest Madake personally picked in Japan in 2002 and 2005. Professional makers recommend waiting at least a three years after harvesting before crafting to ensure that the bamboo has cured/dried and settled.

The Strictly a Female Female show has been over for several weeks but we’re still getting feedback from media and friends. Here’s a link to the Weekend Culture Slideshow in the New York Times. Being able to say were in the slideshow along with Brad Pitt, Elvis Costello and Bernadette Peters is kinda cool!:

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2011/05/29/arts/design/20110529-WIC-ss-2.html

This was forwarded to me:
”...If I could just have a piece of every day in which he would wander through the space I’m in, wearing his skirt and his white face and his glasses and his blue wig, and playing what he played on that flute (and if he just played the music, without all that other stuff, that would be ok) during your beautiful production at WET . . . I would think I’d made it to heaven. And for the time that I experienced it, I think that was where I was. J.N. MFA Professor, Hunter College

It was hot last week. 90 degrees. The kids made some water balloon money on the stoop while I played shakuhachi on the side. I think the music helped sell some lemonade

Stay cool!
- Perry