June 21st was the Japanese Cultural Fair here in Santa Cruz. We got together with Kevin to play a few Tsugaru pieces on stage. Here, Kevin kicked it off the set with a rousing Aiya Bushi. Complete with both major and minor versions!
After, Luke and I came up on stage to play the folk song Yasaburo Bushi while Kevin…got jiggy with it.
Then, we played Kita no Hibiki, originally written by Nitta Oyako. we’ve yet to pay Nitta Oyako royalties for playing it, so don’t tell them!
After that, Kevin and Kyle join together (musically) to preform a duet of the Yoshida Brother’s piece, Hyakka Ryouran. Despite the audiences plea, neither of them spiked their hair with mousse to imitate Ryoichiro Yoshida.
Even though I prefer a good seiza position, I took the chair to clang through Shin Jonkara Bushi. However, adrenaline made my bachi move a lot faster than my fingers could keep up with.
For as long as I can remember, there have been two super-tall palm trees near the cliff overlooking Cowell Beach in Santa Cruz. Well, a few months ago one of the ‘palm tops’ vanished. That right there is a 100% genuine, unedited picture. Yet, it looks kinda fake, eh? In fact, it would be so trivial to remove one of the palm tops in photoshop; I mean, dead-easy. It almost looks “photoshopped” when seen with the naked eye, it’s cut so cleanly. Reminds me of a certain comic:
Naturally that’s a compliment! There’s more to it though. First, of course we are all animals. The principle difference between us and the others is our ability to think and remember what we think. We can dwell on issues. Now, my mother has been a very feisty person for all of her 98 years, and I don’t expect that to change. Sure, she’s slowed down a lot this past decade or two, but the fire is always there.
We’ve had a contentious relationship since I was in my teens. In fact Ijoined the Air Force at 17 to get away. We get along well now though, ever since I ceased needing to have her ‘understand’ me. I found that if I simply accepted her, that imparted to me the ‘understanding’ I so craved. Interesting aspect of the reflective nature of perception.
Yet, even now we will have an occasional emotional run in. The interesting animal aspect to this is that she doesn’t remember very well those events for more than a few hours. The next day is a new day. In this way she is more like other animals than she’s ever been. The same is happening to me to a lesser degree already. Not being as able to remember now as well as in my youth means less for me to dwell on, less to worry about, less to separate me from the rest of life on earth. With fewer memory and energy resources now, I’m more focused on using what I have left for recalling what I truly want to remember.
When somebody ever says, “I will leave the matter in your . . . capable hands.” You can bet for certain that they think you will screw up “the matter” and will immediately tattle to the boss afterwards in hopes of getting a promotion.
We don’t typically keep soda in the house—mainly because if we did, we’d always drink it! (And that would take the specialness out of it.) However, we keep a few bottles in the cellar (along with our Tequila reserves) for special occasions.
At a recent excursion to Costco, we found they had Coca Cola. Yeah, big duh. No, this was special. What made us look twice was the glass bottles. Upon closer inspection, we saw it said “Product of Mexico” and in the ingredients, there was sugar rather than corn syrup. We decided to pick up a box to see what the difference was. Here we witness Luke taking the first sip.
Just took this picture from our roof. No danger for us down here near the coast, but seeing that cloud is a bit spooky. And this is literally only a fourth of the amount of smoke that was there three hours ago. Hoping our neighbor’s house in Bonny Doon isn’t taken by the fire.
Very young children are curious and open to the world around them. They experiment with their vocal chords and limbs and gradually learn the two most crucial skills in life: walking and talking. They are not hindered by a fear of making mistakes; they jump right in and tackle the task at hand. As our cognitive ability awakens and we gather in wide learning, a contrast between this ‘known’ (our learning) and the unknown increases drastically and our insecurity mounts (this is one reason for the Buddhist and Taoist helpful hint to “desire not to desire, and learn to be without learning“). To compensate for the insecurity learning causes, we seek protection through perfection. This presents a curious evolutionary problem.
I’ve never found seeking or expecting perfection useful or empowering. Rather, the perfectionist approach misses opportunity’s daily knock on the door. Clinging to perfection is a hurdle to surmount before we can accomplish our private ends. We miss out on life when we are seeking, expecting, or hiding behind perfection’s secure walls. Frankly, if we approached life as perfectionists in early childhood we never would have learned to walk or talk.
Note: It is the seeking, clinging and expecting perfection that leads to difficulty. Working within perfection, moment to moment, is entirely different. Or as the Bhagavad-Gita (the ‘yoga bible’) puts it, “A harmony in eating and resting, in sleeping and keeping awake: a perfection in whatever one does. This is the Yoga that gives peace from all pain”.
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