My foodie colleagues Barry, Rafi, Amira and I just had some tasty sandwiches from the new Defonte's of Brooklyn Italian sandwich shop on Third Avenue and 21st Street. Overally we were quite impressed with the offerings and the setup. The classic sandwiches like the Nicky and the Valentino seem more packed with extras like lettuce…
NYC Biking Tip #14: Don’t bike over the Brooklyn Bridge on the weekend
Today on the way to a dance performance, I decided to take the Brooklyn Bridge from Quaker Meeting, instead of my usual route over the Manhattan Bridge. VERY BAD IDEA. In theory, biking over the Brooklyn Bridge should be a breeze. There's a clearly demarcated bike path and pedestrian path, as you can see in…
“In a Cypher Far, Far, Away”: PMT Breakers at the Spring Showcase
Yesterday and today I performed with the PMT breakers at the PMT Dance Showcase, which is always a blast. This season's show was particularly appealing to me because we had a "Star Wars" theme going on with our routine. I got to be the main evil jedi, leading my troop of Dark Side b-boys against…
Picture of me twittering in the NY Times Sunday Styles Section today!
Check out Bill Cunningham’s lovely photo essay about the Easter Parade on the NY Times website. I come into view at about the 0.44 second mark! I like how Bill captured Boosh and I checking our phones. I’m actually twittering at that exact moment something along the lines of “Looking pimp in the Easter Parade!…
Stacked Blog’s 24-hour read-a-thon for the Brooklyn Library: donate today!
My friend Christina over at the Stacked bibliophile blog is doing a 24-hour read-a-thon all day today starting at 8am and going to 8am tomorrow, Sunday April 19. That's plenty cool in itself. But Christina has also added a fundraising component, challenging folks today and tomorrow to donate to the Brooklyn Public Library, which apparently…
HASTAC Digital Media & Learning Showcase: a laptop orchestra, OLPCs in Chiapas, vloggers in Mumbai, and more…
Here's a neat little clip of Connie Yowell of the MacArthur Foundation welcoming the 2008 and 2009 winners of the HASTAC Digital Media and Learning competition, including myself and Amira from Global Kids. Connie always does such a great job synthesizing the broader historic trends, the cumulative impact of the various digital learning projects supported…
Small Worlds seeks to integrate social networks and virtual worlds
I've been checking out the new virtual world Small Worlds over the past few weeks, and so far have been pretty impressed. Here's some of the things I like about it: Accessibility: It's a web-based 2.5D environment that runs on Flash, so its much more accessible than other VWs that rely on a client download….
Whyville & Field Museum create virtual coral reef to educate about biodiversity
I'm excited to share the news that my friends at the Field Museum of Chicago have teamed up with the tween virtual world Whyville to launch Whyreef: a virtual educational experience for young people to teach them about biodiversity and ecosystems. In Whyreef, you are challenged to observe different coral reefs and carefully record the…
Dancing in the Easter Parade with Michael Arenella & Friends (video)
Yesterday was a lovely sunny and brisk day for the Easter Parade in Manhattan on Fifth Avenue. Thousands of locals and tourists milled about and marveled at the elegant, fanciful, opulent and sometimes ridiculous Easter outfits worn by participants. The lindy hop crowd tends toward the more vintage-y and elegant end of the spectrum, with…
My breaking solo for performance next week (video)
Here's my solo that I'm working on for the breaking performance I'm doing with my group at PMT Studios next week. Yes, the ending is still not done yet, and my swipes need a lot of work. The song is of course "Body Movin'" by the Beastie Boys (1998).