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!
Virtual Naughty Elves Unite: SantaCon comes to Second Life tomorrow!
For those like me that missed the real world SantaCon, I got the exciting news that Santarchy 2008 is happening tomorrow, December 23 in Second Life: Couldn't make it to SantaCon because you didn't have a red suit? or you had a cold? couldn't find a designated driver? or you had to stay home with…
Mole meets Balinese flying cat
Here's my kitty Mole Negro inspecting a Balinese flying cat ornament that I got today. Mole soon realized that the statuette was neither (1) tasty nor (2) hostile, so he proceeded to ignore it. More pics here:
Responsible, Sustainable Holiday Shopping in NYC
I just got home from hopefully the last round of shopping for holiday presents this year. Yes, we are in a recession. But the stores and holiday markets are still packed with people busy stimulating the economy, as Mayor Bloomberg keeps telling us to do. I will be the first to admit that I probably…
A Quaker Christmas Tree?
This afternoon I was surprised to see that there is a Christmas tree in the "coffee hour" area of the Brooklyn Quaker Meeting that I attend. Apparently Brooklyn Meeting even holds a "Christmas Tree Festival" for our young people where Santa Claus makes an appearance! I find this all vaguely disconcerting and un-Quakerly. Historically, Quakers…
A very special/subversive Christmas from Tiny Nation
Those crackpots at Ill Clan machinima studios have unleashed a special holiday mini-sode of their machinima series "Tiny Nation." This time the elite squad of cuddly backyard creatures takes on "O Tannebaum," with typically disastrous results.
Scenarios USA & Global Kids premieres 3 youth films in Second Life
On Wednesday, I produced the virtual premiere of three youth-written films in Second Life. Organized by Global Kids in conjunction with Scenarios USA, the virtual screening brought together around 50 teens and adults on both the Teen Grid and Main Grid of Second Life. The audiences got to watch three short films on the subject…