gurdymonkey | Tuesday night follies (Reply)

I suspect I may need to screw around with the security settings on this thing because I've been trying to download Mozilla Firefox since Sunday and I keep getting messages that it''s not available. I suspect a plot by Internet Explorer, which, by the way, craps out at least ONCE per session, which is why I want Firefox back please! I'll even sit through another evening of cabled machines so I can get all my bookmarks back where they belong.

It would not be politically expedient for me to post on some things I'm thinking about, so I won't. I could tell you but I'd have to kill you. And you over there. Yes, and you too. Besides, I guarantee it's not what you think it is anyway.

And it doesn't matter because taiko started up again tonight and whaling on a newly re-skinned drum is highly therapeutic. My sensei (both of them) said they were sufficiently impressed by how good we all looked at the recital to use this 10 week session to polish pieces we've been working on as well as maybe introduce a new one. We did some work on "O-Kaji" and "Jishin" tonight. I really, REALLY need to get my mental shit together when I face the o-daiko. II don't quite draw a blank, but I have to think too damn hard about which hand goes where and what passes for my solo is part of a drill I can do with my eyes closed on a standing drum - and TAUGHT AT A&S!!! It's stupid. Maybe I should do some air taiko in front of the full length mirror in my copious spare time. (Judging from the milling throng pasted against the wall during the last ten minutes of class, they got a whole bunch of new people for the beginner class.)

This is a 17th century tsuba (sword guard) by Hayashi Matashichi (1613–1699). Eisei-Bunko Museum, 1796. © Eisei Bunko, Japan, currently on display as part of the "Lords of the Samurai" show at the Asian Art Museum. http://www.asianart.org/samuraigallery/samuraigallery.html
I love the torn fan motif. It's such a great image of the impermanence of existence (a classic theme in Japanese aesthetics) , and yet the damaged fans are still beautiful. I think this would look absolutely stunning on a kosode. I've seen fans on lacquer pieces and on textiles, but never torn fans like this, and this is a post-period piece of metalwork. That said, I have some ideas on how I could use this motif to create a period-evocative garment. Besides, Ii-dono and Abe-hime gave me that amazing green silk for Christmas....