He's making an ink-grinding stone for calligraphy or brush-painting, (sumi-e) The ink comes in a stick and must be ground with water, against the stone to make ink. The liquid ink stays in the resovoir
I don't understand your comment. My 62-year-old wife, without seeing the video, just walked into the room saying "Who's that? It's good!" By any standards, she's a very good guitar-player.
Right on! Also, some schools are geared toward obscure, conceptual "art" photography instead of practical skills -- mostly useless in the real world.