at the beginning, the ostinato with the left hand: What's the easiest way to stick that?

The way I found easiest was to use the outside mallet for the beginning of each measure. I.E. Where 1 is outside and 2 is inside.
|(6/8)122222|(5/8)12222|(6/8)122222|(7/8)1222222| etc.

When I played it, I used Eric's sticking. I have seen people use the #1 mallet for the emphasized beat of every measure, i.e. 122122 12212 122122 1221222 except for the second group of two in the 7/8 bars. Evelyn Glennie suggested that I try to alternate using #2 and #3, i.e. 232323 23232 323232 3232323, (or 323232 32323, etc.) until the right hand comes in. This is a little weird, there's a couple of stick crossings, but it works really well for a powerful opening statement. I chose my sticking because it was the most consistent for me, and also because whatever color I was getting from the mallets due to using a graduated set remained constant throughout the ostinato. If I remember correctly, I think I used med, med-hard, med-hard, and hard for 1, 2, 3, 4, Black Swamp Inaki Sebastian mallets.

Hope this helps.

The first eight bars I play with inside mallets for power. The sticking is also going to depend on what grip you play with. I play Stevens and found that using 1 on the accents of groupings worked best. Basically what everyone else is saying: 1-2-2-(2). The 7/8 bar is a 3-4 grouping for the sticking. Stevens grip works well with this because you are able to crank out the 2nd on the B and C. Just give it a lot of rotation and don't let the mallets lose momentum.

-Danny