Ok, it definitely is super awesome that Duke Ellington is going to be on a US quarter, as CNN reports. We are finally getting a circulating US coin featuring the image of an African-American, which is another small sign of progress on the diversity front in this country. (Native American Sacajawea was minted onto a…
Top 10 mistakes made by newbie lindy hoppers
[Me in my early years of lindy hopping way back in 2002. Yes, my partner and I had the same blonde streak in our hair.] I've been dancing lindy hop for over ten years. And in that time, I've seen my share of what can only be called swing dance douchery. I like to think…
Reminder: Sponsor me at the Global Kids Dance-a-Thon!
This is a quick reminder about the Global Kids Scholarship Fundraiser Dance-A-Thon that I'm participating in next Friday, March 6. I will be squaring off against some of our high school youth in a dance off to raise scholarship money. This Dance-a-Thon will raise much needed funds for scholarships for our Global Kids Leaders who…
Update from Gabe Roth on Daptones Records Burglary
My friend Laura passed on to me this email from Gabe "Bosco" Roth, head of soul music indie record label Daptone Records, about the burglary of their studios a week ago. Sounds like they are still hurting, but basically back in business: Luckily, the extent of the burglary was not debilitating. Between what was stolen…
Time Out NY “Date This New Yorker” Update: it’s tough being an eligible single!
People have been asking me about the reaction to my listing in the “Date This New Yorker” issue of Time Out New York a week and a half ago. I have to admit that this little experiment has been even more successful than even I would have imagined. To the dozens and dozens of women…
Tori at USC needs volunteers for Second Life study this week!
Just got this urgent call from my friend Tori at USC who needs student volunteers from outside the US for a study she is doing on virtual environments this coming week. Please help her out if you can: We're searching for 8 student volunteers that have not yet been in Second Life and are willing…
“Jen Brooks: The Musical” on Broadway March 2!
My friend Jen is putting on her one-woman all singing, all dancing show on Broadway on Monday March 2nd. Tickets for "Jen Brooks: The Musical" are a recession-friendly $10 with advance reservation and $12 at the door! At The Reprise Room ,245 West 54th Street (btw Broadway & 8th Ave). For reservations call 917-660-3420. Looks…
Learning from the Jedis of Digital Media and Learning
We just finished up a two-day convening of 80-some representatives of various projects funded by the Digital Media and Learning department of the MacArthur Foundation. It's sort of a Jedi Council of the most bad ass researchers, educators, game designers, and techies in the field of 21st century learning. It's good to connect again with…
Talking about Digital Learning at UC Irvine
To the right is a picture from the John Wayne International Airport in Santa Ana, California, where I flew in this afternoon. I'm at UC Irvine with Rafi for a MacArthur Foundation Digital Media and Learning grantees meeting. We're joining a bunch of super smart people who are conducting a wide range of research, field…
Learning from the legend: the original b-boy Ken Swift
I made it to Ken Swift’s weekly breakdance fundamentals class last night at PMT Studios, despite being dead tired from just returning from the Global Kids retreat that morning. Ken Swift is a legend in the breakdance world, an original innovator of most of the basic steps that make up b-boying today. It was a…