Hashi.org in 2011

Hello, and a Happy New Year, friends!

Most of you know about the non-profit organization I started back in 2006 – hashi.org – which is a California Non-Profit organization dedicated to promoting cultural exchange opportunities between East Asia and America. “Hashi” means “bridge” in Japanese. This year, in particular, has been an inspiring yet tragic time, with the Japanese earthquake and tsunami in March, and the sudden changes brought about in North Korea by the death of Kim Jong Il.

And as you know, we’ve been having a tough time right here in America. At times, it seems all we can do to take care of ourselves and our families in this down economy.  And with so much unrest and division in the world right now, it’s hard to know how to help. I consider the $1000 scholarships that hashi.org gives out each year to be a small way of helping to ease that unrest and division, and instead,  building  a bridge by investing in the education, travel, and experience of those most worthy scholarship applicants. Here’s a sample of recent recipients.

	Trevor is our American winner this year, and is majoring in advertising with a minor in Japanese and Business, who is now studying at Toyo University through the ISEP exchange. He is a musician as well, and writes his own music and is deeply interested in Japanese music, and looks forward to sharing and performing while in Japan. And while there, he'll be joining up with a group to help with the tsunami and earthquake relief effort in the Sendai region.
	Our Japanese winner has come to research as a Fellow at the NASA Ames Research Center in California. Although he is a PhD student of Yokohama National University in Japan, his study is a joint research project between NASA and Japan.  He's volunteering a few times a week to teach Japanese. That Volunteer Club is working with people from many countries, such as South Korea, Taiwan, India, USA, and Israel. He’s teaching about Japanese culture and customs in addition to language studies.
	Our recent Korean scholarship winner, Kim Eun Young, is in her senior year at University majoring in political science and diplomacy. She has taught children, participated in cultural exchange programs between Korea, China, and Russia, and wants to intern in America and write her thesis on applying ‘American Federal Government’ to international politics.

As we ease into the New Year, if you feel  drawn to help with our efforts, your donation would be so appreciated! Because I volunteer my time and office, we have almost no overhead, and your donation will go directly to help fund these scholarships.  And as a 501c3 non-profit organization, it will be fully tax-deductible, too!   http://www.hashi.org/donation.html

Thank you for taking the time to learn about hashi.org!

Here’s to a peaceful and prosperous new year in 2012,

Michael

http://www.hashi.org

The End of an Era – From My Space to Less Space

It was July, 2006, and I was in LA recording the “Bridge of No Return” CD, and my producer, David Longoria, said something like “Man, you gotta be on MySpace!” And so it started, the voracious monster that was My Space for Music five years ago – Get more friends! Get more comments! Get more Likes! It set a new standard for independent DIY musicians’ ability to reach fans, promote their music, tours, merchandise, and ideas.

There was a lot to love about MySpace back then. Customizable profile pages, a super-slick streaming widget for songs, robust blog platform, and Friends! Thousands and thousands of Friends!!! Meanwhile, Facebook (2004) was starting to catch on, and then Twitter (2008) became the SNS du jour . Slowly, but surely, our attention-span for producing and consuming an online dialogue was being whittled down to 164 characters or less.  

I took the plunge to Facebook in early 2010, wanting to connect with real, here-and-now “friends,” while staying active with MySpace to promote my music. But at the same time, MySpace was making desperate attempts to recapture the mass exodus that was happening. Before the dust settled, they had neutered the blog platform, and instead put energy into Facebook- and Twitter-like functions like “Check-in,” et al. Somehow, I’m thinking when Shakespeare uttered the words “Brevity is the soul of wit,” he wasn’t thinking Facebook- or Twitter-brevity. Don’t get me wrong, I’m just as interested in what you had for dinner, how your commute to work went, what you’re listening to on Spotify, spiritual mandates, political rants, and pet photos as the next guy. I also appreciate the friends, writers, and organizations that contribute to the online dialogue that in some ways make up for the loss of human interaction that technology has brought on, and post comments, blogs, photos, and articles that inform, inspire, and involve us.

And so, I am closing my MySpace page, and with the help of my talented assistant, Sara,  have launched an exciting, multi-platform way of  “putting it out there.”

Facebook -   https://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=667837430

Nothing changing here. Still the best way to stay connected with friends, old and new.

Facebook Music Page - https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Michael-J-Downey/10150161100620145

Great new page with music, videos, photos, etc from Michael J Downey and the World. Now check it out and LIKE me, dangit!

Michaeljdowney.com – http://www.michaeljdowney.com/

We’ve completely re-tooled the home page with new links, a live RSS feed of recent blogs, etc. And I’m very excited that we were able to save all the blogs from MySpace and make them available via the new blog page – http://www.michaeljdowney.com/blog/blog.html

Japan tours, Korea trips, recording in LA, and random thoughts on music, travel, and life!

Hashi.org – http://www.hashi.org

My California Non-Profit Organization dedicated to furthering cultural exchange between the US, Japan, and Korea. Home page has live RSS blog feed, and searchable database of cultural exchange opportunities (e.g.- student exchange, homestay, volunteer opportunities, et al).

...the ancient art of conversation...