June 6, 2010 by admin.

Sorry for not posting for a couple of months, I’m SURE that people missed my posts right? Ha ha. Even though this blog is more for my piece of mind than for reading material I try to post consistently which hopefully helps keep me sane by venting and sharing with the Interweb.

Over the last couple of months I have spent working at my new job at Cue and Case Sales Inc. in Saint Augustine, they manufacture Lucasi Hybrid, Players, Rage as well as carrying the majority of popular brands/ models of cues, cases, accessories and  such. They’ve been around for decades and were the reason why Clawson Custom Cues moved from Clawson Michigan to Florida and changed the name to Predator Products. There is a long history between the two companies which makes it interesting for Shane Sinnott, Daniel Hicks and I working there now. It’s been 3 years since I left the industry and at first it’s what i thought I wanted, but now I can tell you with no uncertainty that this is where I belong and I’m lucky to be where I am now.

That means that I am playing with some new technology in the form of Lucasi Hybrid cues and shafts, they are great hitting cues and after some adjustment I am playing at 95% of my potential (someone else’s words). They have a solid shaft construction which makes for a solid hit while keeping deflection to a minimum and providing radial consistency by splicing the shaft in 8 pieces.

They have a great/ well rounded team of 7 including me which is awesome, we have a good time at work when time permits and the brainstorming sessions are constructive instead of a platform for someone trying to showcase their skills. In fact we all have a certain strength as no two people are really in the same category, we are all different and have a positive influence on the company in our own ways. It’s hard to find a good team and I’ve been lucky to have been a part of a couple of them at different companies and it’s nice to be working with some familiar faces now.

Since I knock the balls around every once in a while they asked me to pick out some new equipment to play with, they have a nice selection of high performance cues and shafts to choose from. But they asked me to do something that I have never been asked for before……….design my own cue. While we all have ideas on what a cue should look and feel like I never would have guessed that someone would want my feedback in the highest degree, which is to design my own cue including what dimensions to build it to. Since I have had experience building cues over the years I had some very specific principles for them to follow when making my cue. It’s very different when working with “production” parameters meaning cost, design, materials and capability all have to be taken into account when building a cue. It’s hard enough picturing one for yourself so you have to take your hat off to the companies that build multiple lines of cues when they may have 20-40 cues in each line!!

All in all I feel very lucky to be working again especially back in the industry, making a decent living, playing in more events and traveling again. It’s been difficult since leaving Predator, working in different industries and positions,  and I feel like I learned so much from that experience which will help me at Cue and Case. It’s coming up on my 90-day review in a couple of weeks and things are coming along very nicely so I hope to be here as long as they’ll have me. If anyone has any questions about Lucasi, Players or Rage cues or any of the popular manufacturers/products please email me at neilf@cueandcase.com or take a peek at www.cueandcase.com, you can also reach me in the office at (800) 835-7665 ext. 101.

Take care everyone!!

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March 19, 2010 by admin.

Simply awesome!!

AFOL A Blocumentary from AFOL on Vimeo.

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March 15, 2010 by admin.

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February 27, 2010 by admin.

Oh how I used to marvel at miniatures and the awesome special effects in movies, these days it’s all computer generated with no actual physical model building or animation. Here is a great example of models, miniatures and tilt shift photography.

The Sandpit from Sam O'Hare on Vimeo.

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February 12, 2010 by admin.

Recently I have acquired a metal mini-lathe and will shortly have a Unique Products (http://www.uniqueinc.com/home1) leather wrap jig, I’ve wanted these tools for years and finally have them. That means I can do the majority of common repairs on shafts and install leather wraps, all with precision and a caring touch.

Tiger Products (http://tigerproducts.com/) will provide the leather wraps, tips and adhesives along with much of the tooling needed, prices will be listed on my website soon. Here are pictures of the new toys:

Please contact me if you have any questions or comments, I can do most shaft repairs and will be ordering materials for different kinds of ferrules. In stock I have Sabre T ferrules and the whole line of Tiger tips (http://www.tigerproducts.com/store/home.php?cat=108), the most popular being the Tiger Hard tips as they are what I play with and prefer even compared to Moori or Sniper models. It’s so much fun doing repairs and working with my hands, I thank Tim Padgett and Ariel Carmeli for teaching me how to build and repair cues over the years!!

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February 3, 2010 by admin.

http://www.kinektdesign.com/

So cool!!

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February 3, 2010 by admin.

Just because of the size and that they have a button that make them pop into action:

http://gizmodo.com/5462301/first-foldable-rc-cars-are-wallet+sized-wonders

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January 11, 2010 by admin.

For sale is a very slightly used TPC3 cue, it was only played with for about an hour or so then cleaned up so it doesn’t have any dings or dents anywhere on the cue. It’s #27 of 100 and this model is already sold out, the cue weighs 19.3 ounces with a Sniper tip on the Ultra-X shaft.

It retails for $589 and features their extremely popular Stack leather wrap, it has a stainless steel 5/16*14 joint which provides a very solid hit. Am asking $450 o.b.o. which includes CONUS shipping and joint protectors, am open to trades on this one so please let me know what you have in mind.

Click for information on Tiger Products’ website

Sorry for the poor lighting in the pictures, if you want better/more specific pictures or have any questions/ comments please don’t hesitate to ask. You can email me directly at neil@neilfujiwara.com for the fastest response, thank you for looking!!

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January 10, 2010 by admin.

Hopefully will receive a call from a possible great job in the industry, a friend can’t accept the position but referred them to me with his recommendation which is hugely appreciated. I contacted 3 friends in Japan to see what the job market is like over there and started practicing/learning Japanese again, I have always wanted to visit but if they have jobs there I would be more than willing to move there. Also forwarded my resume to a possible part-time job in a doctor’s office with a referral from another friend, I have never worked either part-time nor in a physician’s office so the experience would be neat. So far this week has been exciting job-wise.

Also giving a lesson tomorrow before the tournament at Bankshots and having lunch with an old student next week, he said he has a project in mind in the Billiard industry and wants my expertise and to bounce some ideas off me. Normally he designs and builds malls but that has slowed down quite a bit with construction in Florida coming almost to a halt overall. He is a great guy and it’s nice to hear from him again, I’m really curious to see what his devious brain has been planning lately.

Been doing decently in the small local tournaments and hope to win tomorrow at Bankshots, am pretty focused and have been reading some books on playing pool and strategy. Have also been stretching every morning and exercising more with some good results, I would have to say that the last two mornings I woke up with only a little pain and haven’t been hurting later in the day like normal.

Even though nothing is solid  there are several things working toward a better direction than it has been in the recent past, I have been trying hard and it’s nice to see it paying off even if it’s just a little. Am smiling and motivated………can’t remember the last time I was able to say that!!   =)

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January 6, 2010 by admin.

The only rotary engined car to win the 24 Hours of LeMans race, listen to it roar!!!!!!!! The 26B engine puts out 700bhp at 9k normally aspirated rpms with only 5 moving parts, amazing performance and amazing music from under the hood.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_787B

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