This is an early sketch of chapter 32 in the project started last summer. Hopefully the sketches will be done fairly soon and the project can get closer to completion.

Chapter 32: Miyagi to Daniel
1/27/10

Verse 1
So while you're playing around
I'll sit right here and I'll play your song
Your song for you
'Cause I'm stupid too

So while you're boyfriend's there
I'll sit right here while you share the chair
The song for you
'Cause I'm stupid too

Prechorus
Mr. Miyagi
From the TV
At the drums
Next to we

And he's telling me

Chorus
Daniel-san
Just forget about
Daniel-san
Got to forget about
Daniel-san
Forget her now
And finish your song!

Verse 2
So while you're waiting around
I'll sit right here and I'll heat your food
Your food for you
'Cause I'm stupid too

So while he's sleeping below
I'll sit right here and then watch your show
Your show for you
'Cause I'm stupid too

(prechorus)

But she's sitting on his lap
Mr. Miyagi, I just can't take this
And he's taking one more nap
Mr. Miyagi, I just can't shake this

Just can't break this
I Just can't face this

(chorus)

Cooking food
Cooking food for you
No matter
No matter what I do

For all I care you care not
And for all your things I want not
So why do I still care for you

(chorus)

Chapter 32: Miyagi to Daniel

The Christmas Gift album for this year (2009) is a little bit late... but I hope that you still might have some time to try listening to it. Like I say in the liner notes, it might be my last Christmas one for a while... though 2010 sounds like a good year on which to finish. But we'll see. Thanks for listening.

If you'd like to have the new Christmas Gift album, you can download the album here:
Christmas Gift 2009

Here is the tracklist:

1. Bumpy Sleigh Ride
2. Heart of Ice
3. Waiting for a Miracle
4. Cold Winters Eve
5. Snow Hills
6. Bethlehem
7. The Shepherds
8. Grain of Wheat
9. In Your Hands
10. All Praise to You

Lately I've just been working on a music project for the summer. It's basically a way to describe the last couple of years in my life set to music. Ideally I wanted it to be just three albums... but in order to include everything it looks like it is going to span four albums.

I'm a little over halfway through the basic ideas for each of the songs thus far... and as I work on this project I've realized that it's going to be a dead on arrival type of project because it's about the past. That is... unless I include things that I have been learning during the past couple of years as well.

From time to time I'll be putting up chapters here and there from this project on the Home page of this website. Thanks for listening though the story will probably make no sense to anyone other than myself... and real names have been changed for the sake of a story. I'm so tired of music right now.

Also, if you are interested, there is a new link to my video channel on YouTube. I don't really do music videos... but sometimes I put things together to go with a song and then post it there. (Click here to visit the channel.)

Two years of internal questions turned to dust while watching (in disbelief,) someone else ask a simple, four-word question. Sleepless nights and a lacking appetite from a simple, one-word answer. Thinking I understood where someone was coming from while at the same time never really knowing that same person. Running from someone when being followed and being run away from when pursuing. Seeing someone aim too low and myself aim too high. Dreams that vaguely made sense yet being powerless to do anything about them. I'm tired of having to lie when asked how I am doing these days. It's better not to ask. I'm tired of making mistakes.

Anyway, here's a song called: "Never Said So".

Been slowly writing some simple songs for the next Spring album. Some of the sketches... early choruses of some of the songs are here on the front page where it says "Song Previews" if you are interested.

Originally it was just going to be a lot of instrumental pieces on the piano. But like other times... I write those before the next season comes... and by the time the next season comes and goes those instrumental pieces are gradually replaced by songs on topics I've been thinking about throughout the season.

Some songs that might be on the Spring album are: Bethany, Leave It Behind, and Lapis Lazuli.

• Bethany
  is part of the Easter series of songs. The purpose of the series is to somehow depict the last part of Jesus' life here on Earth in song. In this part of the focus, the song looks back on the events that take place at Bethany where Jesus is anointed before his eventual death on the cross.
  
  
• Leave It Behind
  is a reflection and reminder for myself that I need to get rid of things because I can't take it with me when I die.
  
  
• Lapis Lazuli
  was a song for someone who has blue eyes.
  
  

I usually take a break for the winter from music work... so I'm slowly getting back into it. I can't believe it's already almost May!

Well, the song I wrote for a well-known singer in Japan is finally finished. I'm still planning on recording a live (studio) version of the song sometime early next month. I didn't write my last entry in English because it's more directed towards people in Japan. But since I'm writing this post I'll fill you in.

One of the first singers from Japan I often listened to during high school and college was a singer named Chihiro Onitsuka. She's kind of the Karen Carpenter (mixed with the singer named Jewel,) of Japanese popular music. She writes a lot of ballads. Anyway, when I first heard her songs I was intrigued because it sounded as though she might be a Christian.

For the past month or so I've been listening to music from the Carpenters which reminded me of Chihiro Onitsuka. That prompted me to go back and re-listen to some of her songs. But as I read the lyrics and looked at the progression of Chihiro's music compared to Karen Carpenter's music... it made me wonder. Wonder things like... why people don't mind idly sitting by while someone might be going through tough times or even hurting their own self. Obviously--who am I to tell someone what to do. I know. At the same time, I don't want to have kept silent if it would have helped to say something to someone in need. I'd rather err on the side of caution. But also write these things out of love and not condemnation.

For that reason I set out to create a letter in the form of a song for Chihiro Onitsuka as a way to somehow encourage her. It's not something I plan to do again in the near future... and it might not have been the best thing to do either, but with prayer and many days of writing and rewriting... rewording and crossing lines of the song out... the song has finally been completed. Originally I wanted to somehow send the song on a CD to Chihiro Onitsuka but after checking with her official website and fan clubs... it sounds like it might be a nearly impossible task. For the meantime I just made a video of it and put it up on YouTube (here).

Here is a rough English translation of the song if you are interested in knowing what it says:

You say that you don't know what you are running from;
Could it be that you are running from God?
If so... I go through times like that, too.
I know what that feels like.

No matter how far you go in this world...
You (one) can't ever completely escape the darkness that confuses.
There's going to be tough and trying times...
But you're not alone when Jesus is by your side.

Chihiro, do you know?
There is One who has crushed that darkness.
If you try to go it alone in this world
And end up losing your way... how's it gonna be?
Even if you're careful... before you know it,
You might get to a point where you don't know where you are
What will you do, Chihiro?

Let's rest at the feet of Jesus
Who bore the bloodstained cross.

Even our shortcomings
Will be filled with light.

He saves us from the darkness inside ourselves.

If we follow after Him...

For you, Chihiro;
It's the sign of Jesus' love.

最近の僕は、なぜか分からないんですけど、鬼束ちひろの音楽に戻ってきたり、その歌詞を繰り返し読みながら・・・いろいろなイメージと考えとがわき上がってきますね。それがきっかけで、カーペンターズの音楽に戻ってきたり、カレン・カーペンターの声、その生涯を覚えながら、ちょっと心配になってきましたね。それはなぜかというとまたカレンさんみたいな生涯などを見たくないですから・・・悲しすぎるのですから。イエス様には希望があるということ伝えたいと思うのです。

もちろん、鬼束さんとカレンさんとは違う人ですし、人格、生涯などは全く違うはずですけど。しかも、鬼束さんのことについて曲の歌詞などから学んだこと意外は鬼束さんの世界観とか信仰とかは明確には分かりませんので、間違えたのならば、先にごめんなさい。

つまり最近、鬼束さんのために曲を書きたいと思ってたんですね。馬鹿なのは、僕は有名じゃなくて、鬼束さんはやはり有名な歌手ですから、相手まで完成した曲をどういう風に出したらよいのかまだはっきり分かりませんから、ちょっと困っているんですけど、もし神様のみこころならば、曲を完成して出したいと思います。少なくともこの曲は相手のために励まされることになるといいですね。とりあえず、ある無名の友だちから相手に出す方法のようなアイディアがくれたんですので、どうも！これからはどうなるのでしょうかなー。以上です。

At long last... the Christmas Gift CD for this year is finished and actually is being released before Christmas (as opposed to past years... heh). It's a pretty quiet album for the most part with a few notable exceptions ("From Here On" and "The Magi"). But even those aren't that loud. I was thinking of giving you a rundown of what each song on this album is about... but I'm thinking it'd be easier if you listen or read the lyrics for yourself. It works better that way anyway, right? I think. Anyway, I'm tired and I'm glad it's done (for better or for worse,) before Christmas. I hope you enjoy the album. Thanks for listening. If you'd like a slightly higher quality version of the album (like on CD,) just email me and we might be able to figure out something. And, of course, a few people who might be reading this will already receive a CD a few days late after Christmas has come and gone. I guess we'll just have to wait and see...

Oh, right. Here's the link for downloading the new album: Download Christmas Gift 2008.

The homepage has beeen updated a bit. Hopefully it works out better than the last layout. Now you can view album releases at the top of the page. Enjoy...

Still working on the Summer 2008 project. The vocals are almost all done and the rest of the instruments will be finished after that. I think I'll try adding some old sound clips in the background of some of the songs to see how it sounds.

Lately I've been playing around with learning how to use the (relatively) new <canvas> tag in HTML. I guess it's kind of like using Flash... but it's more like old graphics programming on a computer. I'm liking it... as long as most people can see the results of what <canvas> can do. It's nothing yet, but here's an example of what I've been working on lately if you are curious: Canvas Demo (animate.html). Here's another example: Tree Demo 1.

Also, I volunteered to have my hosting server moved to a newer server a couple of weeks ago and it seems like the move went smoothly! The hosting is provided by Dreamhost.

I'm working on some little changes in how this website looks over the next month or so... somehow or other it's taking longer than I thought it would...

I've been playing around with LilyPond this past week for score-writing. I'm obviously still learning because of the time it is taking to relearn musical note values and LilyPond commands. But all in all it's a nice program (especially for being free software.) Despite the relatively steep learning curve, LilyPond manages to be easier to use than GUI score-writing editors like Finale or Sibelius because you can just treat the score as if you are building a website in a text editor rather than Dreamweaver.

If you're interested in getting LilyPond, it can be found here: LilyPond

And if you happen to be using Mac OS X 10.5 you could try using the LilyPond music file compile script I've been using lately called "ligo". (Lily Go) All it does is allow you to have a setup like LilyPad (a convenient LilyPond editor that seems to no longer be an active project,) but in the text editor of your choice. For example, here's a screenshot of my setup. The script is run from the Terminal (or command line.)

If you're interested in "ligo" here's a link to the script: ligo.sh Or you can find it in the Toolbox ...

This past summer has passed by far too quickly. Summer is already over and I am still slowly working on getting the summer album done for this year. It's made up of songs that document a little of my summer among other things. If it works out I plan on making this album a little more complete-sounding as far as the music goes. I don't care so much about the music as the content but I don't want it to be so hard to listen to just because the music is not professional. I also don't want my music to become a way to promote myself. When I decided to start this website I wasn't sure if I should even use my name as the web address. That in itself is self-promotion! But I decided to leave it so that people I meet can find it if they are interested.

今年の夏はもう過ぎ去ってちょっとさびしい僕は少しずつ次のCDアルバムを録音中です。今回のアルバムは自分がこの夏などの中で、経験したことに集中するアルバムです。音楽的に言えば、今回は前の簡単なギター・ピアノとボーカルしかないアルバムと比べると、もっと完全なアルバムを作りたいと思っています。作曲するのには音楽より、曲の内容は本当に大切なところだと思う僕は、面白くない音楽のせいで聞きたくないアルバムを作りたくないんですから、今回はちょっとドラムもベースも入ってた方がいいかなと思っていますから。あと、自分は作曲を通して、何の誉めてくださることにもほしくないですね。かえって、神様を賛美したい！じゃ、よろしくおねがいします。

The Color Emotion album is finally done. I'm so tired of this project. It's a side project that I started on earlier this year but didn't make much progress until about May of this year. It's mostly a project focused on getting a better grasp on writing songs in Japanese that convey more of what I want to say. The main idea of this album is to put colors to emotions and try to convey through words and music that relationship. Enjoy.

Been working on mixing and mastering the Color Emotion side project lately. It's almost mastered and hopefully will be done before the trip.

The new album, Wind Trails is out. Thanks to Andrew N. for how nice the quality of the album sounds! You can download it here. The theme of this Spring album is transition. How I'm changing (slowly,) and how life is changing around me. Spiritually, I hope I'm changing for the better and I hope that that change will someday be reflected in my everyday life as well. I hope it can encourage you somehow.

Welcome, welcome.