Here's a video of my second birthday jam, taking place this time at our weekly Frim Fram Jam dance last Thursday at Club 412. This was a super fun jam, dancing with almost as many followers as my birthday (40)! Thanks for all the dancers who came in my jam! And as always, thanks for…
African Arts Parade & Festival in Brooklyn (pics, video)
I happened to hear the sounds of a marching band from my apartment and rushed down to see a parade for the International African Arts Festival rolling past my building up Fulton Avenue. Those dancers are so cute! African Arts Festival goers will discover live music, dance, spoken word performances, African marketplace, showcase performances, fashion,…
The Hair Fair in Second Life: virtual hair raises real dollars for Locks of Love this weekend!
This is the last weekend of the "Hair Fair" in Second Life, an innovative fundraiser for the "Locks of Love" charity. Locks of Love, for those that don't know, is a nonprofit that provides hair for kids who have undergone chemotherapy or other medical procedure that causes them to lose their hair. For the last…
Thoughts on Four Decades of Being Rik
Today marks my 40th year on this planet. I wish I had some grand epiphany to share at this point in my life. But being a Quaker, I know that revelations don’t necessarily work on a schedule. People have been asking me what it feels like to turn 40. On the one hand, not much…
Teen-created machinima dramatizes child sex trafficking
Today our 15 teen machinimatographers in Global Kids' Virtual Video Project publicly premiered their film "Discovered" before an audience of their peers, parents, teachers, and supporters at the Sony Wonder Theater in Manhattan. It was great seeing their work on the big screen and then watching them explain to the audience their process from conception…
Knoshing tour of Chinatown and the Lower Eastside
Tomorrow the gang in the Online Leadership Program at Global Kids is holding our annual retreat, and Barry and I are in charge of the foodie tour of Chinatown and the Lower Eastside. Our entire staff is almost to a person major foodies, so it's kind of a daunting task. Here's a Google map of…
My Metaplace World: Now embeddable!
Here's my first world I created in Metaplace that I can now embed here (or anywhere on the web)! This is a pretty revolutionary way to move virtual worlds from "walled gardens" to places situated in the wider social web. Embedding can increase traffic to your world, let you more easily hang out with friends,…
Reminder: Global Kids Teens Premiering SL Machinima “Discovered” Tomorrow in NYC!
Just a reminder that tomorrow, July 1st, fifteen New York City public high school students will premiere their film Discovered –a digital "machinima" film produced in Second Life that explores the powerful issue of child sex trafficking through the fictional story of one Mexican teenager. Discovered is the final product of a year-long, intensive digital…
My first visit to the High Line today (pics)
Today I got a chance to visit the recently-opened the High Line in lower Manhattan, which was a nice treat. Running for about 20 blocks from Gansevort Street in the West Village up the westside of Manhattan, the High Line park rises a couple of stories above the city streets, built upon elevated train tracks…
My “Funky 40th” birthday jam last night! (video)
Here's a video of my birthday jam during my "Funky 40th Soul Party" last night at Club 412. So much fun dancing and partying with some of my closest friends from swing, hip-hop, Quaker and Global Kids communities. Yes, I really am 40. I don't really believe it myself sometimes. Thanks for taking this video,…