Yesterday evening, I had the opportunity (thanks Alex!) to go to a really fun event called "Skateboard Science" at the amazing Exploratorium museum in San Francisco. I love museums after hours, and skateboard culture is so interesting, I knew it was going to be a cool evening. The main event for the evening was a…
Looking Fly for My Uncle Oscar
Yesterday, a couple hundred of us gathered at Saint Patrick's Church in Rodeo, California to bid farewell to our beloved Uncle Oscar Santos. It was a beautiful funeral, with a tender eulogy from his pastor Father Larry and sweet remembrances from my cousins Reena and Vicky. Uncle Oscar was a powerful bass singer, and a…
Cherimoya: Weird, Tasty, Pricey Fruit
At a family function the other day, a distant relative gave my mom a couple of cherimoya fruit to take home and try. We cut one up and had it for dessert tonight. I have to say, it's kind of awesome. Delicate, hard to cultivate, and indigenous to the Andes region of South America, cherimoya…
Subterranean: Quaker Meeting as a Subway Train
I realized reading through the #QuakerBuses tweets that I had long ago likened Quaker Meeting for Worship (aka "church") to being on the subway. This is a poem I wrote in 1997 called "Subterranean." subterranean I take the subway to churchSharing this unguarded early Sunday spaceWith others seeking their own destinationsTheir own agendas Who can…
Stephen Colbert Likens Quakers to a City Bus: Launches #QuakerBuses Meme
I am way behind on this meme, but apparently on a recent episode of "The Stephen Cobert Report," fake news anchorman Cobert was discussing "the best" religions with comparative religions professor Stephen Prothero. At one point, Prof. Prothero describes how Quaker Meeting for Worship is full of a bunch of people sitting together in silence,…
Frankie Fund Offering Scholarships to Attend 2011 Herrang Dance Camp
I'm pleased to announce that the Frankie Manning Legacy Fund is offering scholarships for worthwhile candidates to attend the 2011 Herrang International Dance Camp in Herrang, Sweden this summer. The purpose of the Lindy Hop Ambassador Scholarship is "to empower exceptional students of Lindy Hop who come from communities that have little or no exposure…
RIP Uncle Oscar
Here's my Uncle Oscar with his daughter Emily and my mom. Detail from a Santos clan portrait taken in 1993. Yesterday at 2:35PM, surrounded by his wife Perla, his daughter Emily, and lots of other family members including myself, my uncle Oscar Santos passed away. Oscar had been battling diabetes, heart problems and respiratory failure…
920 Special Open House Recap: Awesome Performances, Hundreds of New Dancers
Last Thursday was the "Open House" at the 9:20 Special dance in San Francisco. This is when the 9:20 organizers throw open the doors to the community and allow anyone to come in for a free swing dance lesson and enjoy dancing to the music in the huge dancehall of the Russian Center on…
Listen to Yehoodi Talk Show #127: The “Swingnick” Interview, Swingdancepro.com, dancing in heels & more
I really enjoyed doing this latest Yehoodi Talk Show episode #127 with my co-hosts Spuds and Letta. Spuds has been on a tear lately to find cool web content and bring in interesting perspectives. And it's been great having Letta around to give us the female take on current issues in lindy. I'm mostly there…
Compilation: Women Leading, Men Following in Lindy Hop
Check out this sweet compilation of videos of men following and women leading in lindy hop, put together by Sarah Carney. Lots of familiar faces and great great dancing there! Sarah asks if anyone has any links to videos of a woman leading a man, either socially or in a performance? I can't think of…