Here's a clip of lindy hoppers Maggie Moon, Jennifer Jones, Eden Atencio, Mike Jaeger, Dave Graybill and Roddy Caravella performing in the "Sleigh Bells Swing" musical revue. Choreography by Evita Arce. I had a wonderful night at "Sleigh Bells Swing" with a bunch of friends at the elegant Edison Ballroom in Times Square. The evening…
52nd Swifty self-portrait!
My roommate and friend Swifty just posted his 52nd and final self-portrait as part of the "52 Weeks" Flickr group. Check out all of Swifty's self-portraits here. Some of my favorites: Swifty as a monster for Halloween The Epcot Tour On the throne Fall edition of International Male catalog Mermaid Swifty Swifty in the rain…
“When the Levees Broke”: the harrowing, inspiring stories of Katrina’s victims
I finally got around to seeing "When the Levees Broke" Spike Lee's epic four-hour documentary about Hurricane Katrina and the incredible stories of ordinary New Orleanians who lived through the flood. It's perhaps Lee's finest piece of work, because for most of the film he simply turns on the camera, zooms in tight, and let's…
Learning about “nontheist Quakers” this weekend at Powell House
I'm going on a somewhat last minute trip up to the Quaker retreat center Powell House in Old Chatham, NY. I've been wanting to head up to Powell House for the past few months. Danielle from Brooklyn Meeting offered to get a car and drive up, so I jumped at the opportunity. The occasion is…
Year One at Global Kids Wrap-up
December 19, 2007 started off super-crappy but ended super-awesome. That morning, I updated my status on the micro-blog Twitter as "jobless." A few minutes later, I got a text message from Barry Joseph : “Sorry to hear the news. Please call when u can.” Barry is a guy I had known for about a year…
Katy Perry video features LA lindy hoppers
I don't know a thing about singer Katy Perry. But her recent video for her song "Thinking of You" features a number of LA-based lindy hoppers, including Minn Vo, Shesha Marvin, Nick Williams, and several others. Gotta love Katy's period costumes and the general vintage look of the video. And that's a real jazz band…
Malagayang Pasko! / Merry Christmas!
I'm in Cali with the family preparing to celebrate Christmas in the usual ways: making lumpia shanghai eggrolls with my sister, taking mom to Christmas Mass at our family church, and wrapping presents for our family's raucous gift exchange tomorrow. Cori dug up some old Christmas photos, including this one from 1980 of my cousins…
Brooklyn Museum launches “1stFans”: socially networked museum membership
Will Cary, the membership manager at the Brooklyn Museum, announced earlier this month an interesting way for a wider population of people to support the Brooklyn Museum through their new "1stFan" program. Described as "socially networked museum membership," 1stFan provides a way for potentially hundreds more people to support the museum through an annual $20…
“Yes you can… own a piece of history”: Barack Obama Commemorative Plate
I can not believe that my boss Barry ordered this super cheesy Barack Obama commemorative plate from http://www.victoryplate.com. The video on the website just cracks me up, particularly because it has no people of color in it and looks like just some canned footage that they inserted Barack's name in later when it was clear…
Lindy hop & big band swing music on NY1!
Here's a fun story about the local big band Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks on local news station NY1. My friends Frick & Frack, Evita and Nathan are shown lindy hopping and doing balboa in the clip. Don't miss the appearance by Benny Goodman's brother Gene!