Autumn is officially upon us and Renee of Happy Hearts Mochi has rolled out a special, limited edition flavor for October: Pumpkin Haupia Mochi!

One of the perks of being the Happy Hearts Mochi webmaster and photographer is being able to sample the delectable treats after I’m done photographing them! And, sample I did! The pumpkin and haupia go extremely well together and the mochi ties it all together nicely into a delightful package of yummy goodness. It’s too bad it’s a seasonal offering, because I could eat this any time of year!

Do check out her website at happyheartsmochi.com and don’t miss the opportunity to try this unique flavor before it’s gone!

I finally got around to updating my Champuru Videos and Bon Dance Archive pages.

Better late than never, I say.

Here’s the (very tardy) videolog from the Mililani Hongwanji bon dance held on August 17-18, 2007. It features highlights from the Ukwanshin Kabudan and introducing the faces behind the “Dancing Fools.” Unfortunately, some camera shy members are obviously absent from the roll call.

This was the first time that I was part of the jikata (musicians) rather than one of the dance leaders, so I also posted a behind-the-scenes look at a pre-bon dance practice session that I had with Norman. Sorely out of practice, but the only second string drummer on short notice, I wielded my sticks and hit the taiko to the best of my ability. It was fun seeing the bon dance from a different view — from high atop the yagura — and observing the crowd of dancers below. But, my heart is in the dance and I will always love the kinetic aspect of the art.

The video ends with a quick roll call of the “Dancing Fools” — well, the less camera shy ones in the bunch, that is — and introduces you to the faces that I’ve grown accustomed to seeing every weekend for the past three months. Now we’ll need to find another reason to get together on a regular basis.

I hope you enjoy the video as much as I enjoyed being a part of it.

I don’t quite know what it is.

Lately, I’ve been having a hard time writing. Anything. Including simple <140 character Twitters, answering e-mail, or responding to the comments that kind folks like you make here on the blog or on my Flickr photos — which I totally love! I read everything and appreciate it, I just can’t seem to muster the energy to respond. How pathetic is that?

It’s even a strain for me to sit here and write this right now and I don’t know why.

It seems like the video medium has overtaken me and sapped any semblance of ability and motivation I once had to tap out a few choice words on my keyboard. Thinking about the next video concept is more appealing to me than writing a long-winded entry about my thoughts on life. Although I am not a big fan of watching television, it seems that I have become a HUGE fan of making television. That is, the small tube: 320 x240, to be exact.

Now that bon dance season is over, I need to find other things to shoot video of. If you have any suggestions, please let me know. Drop me a comment here or click on the “Contact Me” link on the banner above. I welcome your ideas.

No more “champuru vlog, bon dance editions” until 2008! Just the thought makes me sad.

Actually… I do have a tardy version of the Mililani Hongwanji bon dance vlog to edit and post. And, maybe some footage from the “Dancing Fools” post-bon dance BBQ party which is coming up as soon as I can organize it.

The last bon dance of 2007 came so quickly! It seems like only last week that we were at the Waipahu Plantation Village excitedly looking forward to a summer full of bon dances. “Time flies when you’re having fun” certainly applies here.

The video features scenes from the Autumn Matsuri, the last bon dance in Hawaii, held at the Hawaii Okinawa Center in Waipio on September 15, 2007. It is the largest (and only) indoor bon dance in Hawaii — and perhaps, the world. Special thanks to TheStuffGuy for manning the video camera as well as snapping stills of the bon dance posse to capture this event for the archives.

The “Dancing Fools” are already making plans for next year! Won’t you join us?

I was so busy enjoying myself at the concert, that I didn’t take much footage for the video. Besides that, we were in the front row, so our view was somewhat obscured by sharp angle of the stage. We had great views of the drummers/singers in the front, but couldn’t see the Rinken Band’s newest drummer (a very talented 10-year-old!) and barely caught glimpses of Rinken Teruya and Tomoko Uehara — until they stepped closer to the edge of the stage. I also found that I was running very low on memory on my 2 GB card by that time! (Mental note: Buy another 2 GB SD card for next year!)

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this short glimpse of the Rinken Band concert!

Shaka Shisa

Our little group of friends met every week this summer at one bon dance or another, in constant search of the yummiest BBQ sticks, the liveliest rendition of the Fukushima Ondo, and of course, our favorite Okinawan dancing. I started calling them the “bon dance posse” and we tossed around ideas about giving ourselves a name and printing t-shirts just for fun. Today, Shari spent the better part of the day with me in my computer room brainstorming. I found a cute shisa graphic from a clipart book I bought from Okinawa back in 1999. However, always leery of nasty things like copyright infringement lawsuits and such, I decided to draw something on my Wacom tablet instead. I took some graphical ideas from the clipart and added my own elements to it and this is the end result. I hope he meets with the approval of the bon dance posse.

If you think he’s cute, Shaka Shisa gear is also on sale on my Zazzle page.

Let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions to make him better, please send them along. (I don’t claim to be an artist, so go easy on me.)