Musings on Dance, Food, Geek Stuff
Today was so strange I don’t even know where to start. I’m in Ivano-Frankivsk, a small city in Western Ukraine, where I was brought by the US Embassy to lead some trainings in digital media for local NGOs. I’ve done a few of these technology trainings for civil society organizations around the world, and had…
What marine animals swim the fastest? How many bones does an orca have? What does a squid and an F-16 plane have in common? Find out at the new "Built for Speed" exhibit at the Cal Academy! Today is the member's preview of the new "Built for Speed" exhibit at the California Academy of Sciences. I…
I'm participating in a MOOC (Massively Open Online Course) put on by Mozilla called "Teach the Web" for the next couple of months. It seems like a good way to get exposed to new tools and new approaches to teaching digital literacies to our youth at the Academy and beyond. This week's assignment is to…
Yesterday I sampled one of Ruby Jewel's ice cream sandwiches, which my local Andronico's happens to carry: organic mint ice cream and two dark chocolate cookies. In the notes on the packaging, I learned that Portland, Oregon based Ruby Jewel tries to be a responsible small business: We source our ingredients from as many local,…
As a Trekkie, I have long had on my list to catch up on the "Star Trek: Enterprise" TV series that ran from 2001-2005. This week I finally finished going through most of the four-season run of the show, and I have to say I'm both glad to be finished and a bit sad that…
I'm happy to share the news that yesterday a group of teens, as a result of their participation in a California Academy of Sciences program, launched a social media campaign to educate the public about plastic waste. Called "Put a Cap on Plastic Use," their campaign focuses on three social media tools: An Instagram Photo Challenge…
Today I got my first chance to check out the new Exploratorium museum located on Pier 15 on the Embarcadero. I was there for a digital learning symposium with fifty other researchers, developers and educators in the field. We were lucky enough to get a guided tour of the new Exploratorium facilities, barely open for…
Happy Saturday! Check out this fun music video featuring a number of lindy hoppers, as well as hip-hop, ballroom, disco skaters and more. The band is LA-based alt-dance duoCapital Cities, performing their song "Safe and Sound." According to Capt Morgan, dancers include Mikey Pedroza, Nikki Marvin, Marshall Watson, Minn Vo, Nick Williams, Stefanie Klausmann, and Lou…
Mexican tortas are one of my favorite sandwiches in the world. Something about the combination of latin-style meats, veggies and cheese on a toasted bun just works. La Fonda in the Inner Sunset is one of the better Mexican spots in the area, with the usual assortment of burritos and tacos, and some atypical offerings…
The "I Charleston" phenomenon is one of my favorite swing memes, if I can call it that. Started by some Frenchy lindy hoppers, basically any swing scene in the world can create an "I Charleston" video showing their local dancers charlestoning and doing solo jazz in notables spots in their city and put it online…