View Larger Map When the organizers of the Frankie Manning 95th Birthday Festival cooked up the idea of having lindy hop scenes from all over submit videos of themselves doing the Shim Sham line dance, we had no real expectations for how many would come in, or from where. I remember telling co-organizer Shorty Dave…
Yes, this man is my boss
Yet another reason why I love my job. Here's a photo of a bunch of my boss Barry's ID cards over the years. This is so full of win, it's ridiculous.
Blue Vipers + 1st Fans Meetup with Sun Kwak at Brooklyn Museum
Just got home from a fun night at the Brooklyn Museum for their free First Saturday event this month. First Saturdays is one of my favorite New York cultural events, and the Brooklyn Museum one always bring out such a neat cross-section of the city. This was the first First Saturday I went to as…
Tell your lindy hop story at IamLindyHop.com
Spuds turned me on to this super cool website started by lindy hopper Ben Yau from Pasadena called : IAmLindyHop.com. The purpose of the site is to "gather and share stories of Lindy Hop" from the dancers, musicians, instructors and DJs that keep this artform alive every day. As Ben writes, "each person has a…
Youth-led filmmaking of the Global Kids Conference and virtual simulcasts
Last Friday, Global Kids held its Annual Conference at Baruch College, gathering 600-some students and educators from around New York City to examine critical social issues, meet each other, and get activated. This year's theme was "Global Health — Be the Vaccine," featuring speakers and workshops on a wide variety of health-related topics. An important…
An interesting proposition: Let’s make a baby together
Let's say that I know this guy who has a really interesting choice to make. This guy is friends with a very sweet lesbian couple. The couple calls the guy over the weekend and make him a proposition: they would like him to be the biological father of their child. The guy learns that it's…
Get your “Tiny Nation” tee-shirts, tea cozies and other tchotchkes here!
Fans of the machinima series "Tiny Nation" will be happy to know that you can now purchase all sorts of "Tiny Nation"-branded clothing and merchandise from Ill Clan Studios. For those that haven't seen the show, it's the story of a cute but profane group of backyard animals who stage various unsuccessful rebellions against their…
Virtual malcontent sends me a real pie: Thanks, Crap Mariner!
Today after lunch I had a piece of delicious pecan pie generously provided by infamous Second Life resident Mr. Crap Mariner. He might be cranky, rude, and opinionated in the virtual world, but he was kind enough to send me for no particular reason his favorite pecan pie all the way from Houston to New…
“Aha!” moments in virtual education: my talk at the VW Best Practices Conference (video)
Last Saturday I had the honor of presenting at the Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education Conference about the work of Global Kids and some of the lessons we have been learning about how to best use virtual worlds for education and learning. The multi-day conference took place in Second Life, appropriately enough given the…
The Shim Sham… now in 3D! (video)
Ok, I am sure that my non-dancer friends are sick to death of all of these bloody Shim Sham videos. This is the last one (perhaps) that I'm posting, because it's so stinkin' cool! That's right, it's the Shim Sham, rendered in 3D, by those amazing folks at the Jam Cellar in DC. Here's how…