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Well, it’s a bit late, but here are the 19 vidoes I most enjoyed 2010. (click “Read the rest…” for videos)

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Last Christmas I cobbled together a Useless Machine for my sister. The wood was from the old overhead fan blades in On Ensemble’s previous studio and the electronics and motor were from salvaged electronic devices.

(Hopefully I’ll post a video of this year’s gift to my mom — a praxinoscope made from an old record player! — sometime before next Christmas.)

Hiro and I have just returned from a two-day trip on our new bike. Oh… my… goodness…

We love this bike!

This was perhaps the most fun overnight trip I’ve ever had! We rode up to South Pasadena to have lunch at Charm Vegan , then over to South El Monte for dinner at Thien Tam Vegetarian Restaurant, and a night’s rest in Rosemead. We then took the beautiful Rio Hondo bike path home. The food was great, but it was basically an excuse to ride, and the riding was delightful. Not only is the recumbent comfortable, but the bike inspires amazing responses from onlookers. The weird-looking bike elicits shouts of support wherever we went. It’s hard not to be happy while a guy in a Compton low-rider gives you the thumbs up while a family on the sidewalk applauds and an old guy on the corner yells, “Pump that shit! Pump that shit!” Riding this bike is like being transported to a country where everyone is friendly and the pace of life is just right. The basics of getting around, eating, and talking become a joy.

Meet Alphonse! With a frame made by Greenspeed in Australia, and parts assembled by Bent Up Cycles in Hollywood, this is our dream bike! It’s 10.5′ long, fast, and really fun!

I had long planned to build a recumbent tandem. The bikes are surprisingly expensive, so I figured I could buy the welding tools and pay myself to do it and still save money. But just before the holiday break I happened to learn of a used Greenspeed GTT recumbent tandem going on sale. Suddenly, Hiro and I were excited about the possibility of having a tandem now, rather than five years from now, so we jumped in and bought it.

I’m surprised how fun it is to be recumbent. It feels sort of like flying, and cars generously share the roads with us. It’s easy to chat with your partner and it’s nice to feel the push of another set of legs. We are recent converts to clip-in pedals, which are even better on a recumbent trike where you can’t fall over.

The long-term dream is to be able to do taiko tours on bike. I’m not sure how feasible it really is, but I’d very much like to find a way that future career success doesn’t mean environmental failure.

We’re heading out on a two-day, 65-mile trip right now. More tomorrow on how it went!

Last weekend was a blast working with the Dancing People Company here in Ashland, Oregon. We had four performances at the historic Armory performance hall for DPC’s annual winter solstice celebration concert “Call Back the Sun”. This time I didn’t collaborate with them using taiko; instead, I used berimbau, cajon and dumbek. It was a slight challenge writing the music for their dance piece “Grassfire” and I’ve realized my potential for alternative percussion set ups. I hope to post some footage of the performance soon.

What else? I currently have 5 taiko students that are showing lots of progress. One in particular, Megan Janssen, is amazing me with how quickly she learns. This is very, very inspiring. I’m planning next year’s Meidoko Green shows which will this time incorporate more students. If all goes well these shows will definitely be something for you all to see.

If you are a musician represented by ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, or SoundExchange, and if you agree with me that SOPA is a horrible idea, tell them how you feel. These copyright-maximalist organizations have come to believe that the internet should be censored. Use the links above to tell them that they are not representing our interests.

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Happy Holidays all!  Still a lot on the On Ensemble to do list before the year ends.  Our year long residency at the Japanese American Community and Cultural Center is also coming to an end so we’ll be moving to a new location soon.  If you have any leads on a rehearsal space suitable for a small group with a bunch of equipment let us know!

We’ll also be starting a new recording project soon.  Right now I’m trying to finish up two other recording projects including a Kenny Endo and Kaoru Watanbe duet album I’m producing and a ‘decadent’ electronica album with Grammy Award winning composer Christopher Tin.  Once these two are finished we’ll be starting the new On Ensemble album.  Hopefully we’ll get the album started before the year ends!