The Click Heard Round the World

At Cubs Game with Global Kids and Field Museum teens

Yesterday, Global Kids and the Field Museum brought together a group of teens from New York and Chicago for the second of the "I Dig Tanzania" summer camp.  Over the course of the next two days, we'll have them meeting with some of the researchers who were in Tanzania in the flesh, exploring the Field Museum, doing presentations to the public about what the have learned, and getting more information about paleontology, evolution, biology, Tanzanian music and culture, and science in general. 

But to start out, we wanted them to just hang out and have a group bonding experience. What better way to do that in Chicago then seeing a Cubs game at Wrigley Field?

With the very helpful intervention of a friend, we got amazing seats behind homeplate, just twenty-some rows back.  Being there amidst 41,000 Chicagoans rooting for their team was an amazing experience.  And even for a non-baseball person like me, the game was quite thrilling.

Our kids and the Field Museum kids got a big kick out of being there, and seemed to already start to connect with each other over the course of the game and afterwards.  What a great way to start this Chicago trip!

The short video shows the Cubs fans singing their traditional fight song in the 8th inning. Sweet!

Brooklyn Bombshells going to Intl Lindy Hop Championships in DC in August!

I've neglected to mention that I'm going to be competing at the International Lindy Hop Championships this August in DC.  Myself, along with a group of 15 other dancers, will be doing a more competition-friendly version of this award-winning performance at ILHC!  We'll be entering in the Cabaret Division, where a lot of the wackier more eclectic performances take place (i.e. hip-hop, disco, african dance, etc).

I'm not sure exactly why I'm doing this. Perhaps because my friend Lilieblue is the choreographer.  Or maybe it's because I was already planning on going to ILHC.  Or maybe because I'm just a big ham.

The competition at ILHC is expected to be fierce, so winning is not really our goal. I'm not even sure how they judge the cabaret division.  I just want us to do a bad ass, crowd-pleasing performance.

Alain Wong & crew finish microcredit bike ride from Canada to Tijuana!

Alain Wong posts to his blog that he and his fellow hardy bike riders just completed their epic bike ride from Toronto, Canada to Tijuana, Mexico.  They were riding to promote the cause of microcredit as a way of fighting global poverty. 

I've been following their trip via Alain's blog with a mixture of admiration and envy as they got to see such a beautiful region of the United States up close and personal. I need to do one of these long bike tours one of these days.

Congrats to the team on an amazing achievement!  Enjoy the Mexican hospitality and hope you heal up quick!

Hanging with the familia in Cali for July 4th weekend

This is me in my barong tagalog Filipino dress shirt with my Uncle Oscar in Cali this weekend.

I had a lovely time with the family over July 4th weekend, starting with a relaxing barbecue at my Mom's house and ending with a blowout wedding for my Uncle Nesting and Auntie Angie.  I am the first to admit that I am not very good at staying in touch with most of my extended family. But every once in awhile it's great to be among my hundreds of cousins, aunts, uncles and random relations from all over.  Especially when I get to wear my very stylish barong.

It was the perfect Filipino wedding -- a long long long Catholic Mass / wedding, lots of food and alcohol, cheesy songs, karaoke, cha-cha and "rock and roll" dancing, and color coordinated outfits all around.  We did BOTH the Electric Slide and the Achey-Breaky Heart line dances!  Such a great party.

Hope everyone else had a lovely weekend as well.

VIDEO: My talk about Global Kids at NetSquared Conference

 

My colleague Rafi just informed me that my talk about Global Kids at the NetSquared Conference a couple of weeks ago can be viewed on Fora.tv.  You can also check out my slides from my presentation here. Sorry the audio is so bad.

Alain Wong starts bike ride to Tijuana for Microcredit

As I mentioned in March, fellow lindy hopper Alain Wong from Montreal committed to riding a bicycle from Vancouver, BC to Tijuana, Mexico for the cause of microcredit lending. I got to meet Alain and some of his friends at Boston Tea Party, which was really cool. Alain and his bike team began their ride a couple of days ago, which you can read about on his blog. 

As a reminder , here's the description of why he's riding so far:

There are two goals to this 3000 km, 7 week ride. I’m raising $3000 for the AOC micro-credit fund, and I’m promoting micro-credit as a tool to fight poverty and empower women. All the money you donate will go directly to people in need, without overhead. So support me by donating today.

You can go to his donate page to contribute to the cause.  Here's wishing for good weather, kind strangers, and awesome adventures along the way!  Wish I could roll with you guys!

Herrang International Lindy Hop Camp starts at the end of June!

It's June, folks! And that means it's time to get ready for the Herrang International Dance Camp in beautiful Herrang, Sweden! 

< www.flickr.com This is a Flickr badge showing items in a set called Herrang 2007. Make your own badge here.

For those that don't know, every year hundreds of lindy hoppers from around the world converge on a small rural town in Northern Sweden to take workshops with some of the best teachers on the planet, social dance into the wee hours of the morning, and party like there is no tomorrow.  It's an amazing place that anyone who calls themselves a serious lindy hopper has to go to at least once in their lives. This year the Herrang Camp takes place from June 28 to July 26.

Last year, Spuds and I did a very special Yehoodi Video Talk Show live from Herrang.  If you are thinking about going, or just want to know what all the fuss is about, download the show here. (158 MB). (The flash player version does not seem to be working on the site for some reason. Spuds?)  It's the best show Spuds and I have ever done, so hopefully you'll enjoy it.

You can also check out my pics from last year.

Last post about NetSquared: check out their cute tee-shirts!

The free tee-shirt I got at the NetSquared Conference this past Tuesday and Wednesday is the cutest conference shirt I have ever received! That is all.

Powerpoint slides from my NetSquared presentation "Turn Off the Damned PC and Go Outside"

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Here is the powerpoint presentation from my presentation at the NetSquared Mixed-reality event yesterday, entitled "Turn Off the Damned PC and Go Outside." 

On and congrats to the winners of the NetSquared Mashup Challenge:

• First Place ($25,000): Ushahidi: Mapping Reports of Post-Election Violence in Kenya
• Second Place ($15,000):   KnowMore.org Firefox Extension - Get Alerts of Corporate Abuses When You Visit Company/Brand/Product Websites
• Third Place ($10,000):  A Mashup of 29+ Social Action Platforms -- Social Actions

All of the 21 projects rocked, but these three were some of my favorites.

Thanks again to Techsoup for making it possible for me to participate.  What a great event!
 

NetSquared: hacking the grantmaking process

The NetSquared 2008 Conference is about to draw to a close. I've had a very enjoyable past couple of days here, courtesy of Techsoup.org.

Having been involved in a few grantmaking processes, from both the grantee and grantor perspective, its been interesting to see up close who the NetSquared grant process works.  This year, NetSquared sponsored a "Mashup Challenge," inviting people to submit cool technology mashup ideas that create social good.  The general public can vote and comment online for each project during and open comment period.  Then technical and organizational experts provide feedback and criticism for each project to help refine them.

The top 21 mashups were invited to come to the NetSquared Conference that happened yesterday and today to pitch their ideas to a couple of hundred other non-profit and tech industry reps.  Finally, the conference participants vote on their favorite projects, which are awarded some share of $100,000 worth of grant funding.

I like the idea of giving social entrepreneurs an opportunity to pitch their ideas to an expert and critical audience, get specific feedback and suggestions, and then have a chance to refine and reframe their proposals.  Even for groups that don't get funded, this is a space where you can make sure that your group is proceeding on the right track.  And with so many other tech companies, foundations and non-profits present, you might just find a partner or supporter who can help you move your project forward, even if you aren't selected for funding by NetSquared.