One of my biggest hurdles as a dancer is the ability to learn and retain long sequences of choreography. I just seem to take much longer to learn even fairly short sequences of moves than other people in performance classes or workshops. It's super annoying. Am I doomed to always have this as a barrier…
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Dance Video Monday: Three Ladies Charlestoning to Club Mix
Ok this remix "The Charleston" by DJ Maurice & Daim Vega kind of bores me with it's fairly standard club beat and plinky-plinky classic swing sample. And those dancers only do like three actual charleston steps, plus the Roger Rabbit? WTH? But there's a lot to, um, appreciate about three lovely ladies rocking out…
Apartment Hunting in San Francisco: from Mount Olympus to the Gritty Mission
I spent yesterday morning and afternoon running around San Francisco with my friends David and Kim looking at apartments for rent. It was elluminating for me to learn about different neighborhoods, their varying amenities, deficits, and personalities. As a veteran of various hard-fought battles in New York to find the mythical "perfect apartment," I was…
Snorkeling in the Sink
I'm telling this story because (1) it's awesome, (2) it makes me feel better and (3) I don't think my oldest friend David will mind. So I was recounting to David how I had my little freak out when I tried scuba diving for the first time a few weeks ago in Bali. He said…
Review of SocialCam for iPhone4: Can’t Save Video Files Locally?
Here's a quick mini-review of SocialCam, the new video sharing mobile app from the makers of Justin.tv, that came out a week or so ago. Generally it's great, and does what it says it will do with no fuss or difficulty. My main quibble with the otherwise excellent service is that you don't have the…
SMALLLab at MacArthur DML Conference: Games that Teach STEM Skills to Kids
One of the neatest exhibits I saw at the MacArthur Digital Media and Learning Conference this past week in Long Beach was a series of interactive learning games created by the SMALLLab group at Parsons. They have a bunch of neat simulations and games they created to teach various science, math and engineering principals…
The Museum of Jurassic Technology: The Finest Fake Science Museum in the World
After hearing rave reviews from several friends of mine, I finally got to check out the Museum of Jurassic Technology yesterday in Los Angeles. What a strange and wonderful place. Essentially a large art installation, the Museum of Jurassic Technology uses the artifice of a natural history museum to showcase a seemingly random collection of…
Connecting Digital Learning Theory and Practice at MacArthur DML Conference
I'm currently in Long Beach, California for the MacArthur Foundation-sponsored Digital Media and Learning Conference. The DML is a three day gathering of about 500 academics, educators, nonprofits, techies, and funders focused on "fostering interdisciplinary and participatory dialog and linking theory, empirical study, policy, and practice." I.e. the event is intended to get folks who…
Learning “Urban Contemporary” with Loose Change Dance Company
Yesterday, I had the privilege of taking a class with Eric Fenn, choreographer of the innovative "urban contemporary" dance troupe Loose Change. Combining house, popping, waving, and breaking with modern dance, martial arts and ocassionally, swing, Loose Change has been a pioneer in the dance fusion movement for 20 years. I've long been a fan…
Pics from My Trip to Bali
In retrospect, I should have taken my digital SLR for my first tript to Bali. Doh. But overall I'm pretty happy with how my pictures came out taken just with my iPhone4. Of course, it's a gorgeous tropical island, so it's easy to take a good shot. Just shoot a lot and edit later. But…