so, apparently, i am that guy…

So I have a bit of a guilty pleasure… i enjoy all those *awful* dance competition movies… your “Step Ups,” your “Roll Bounce”  your “Breakin 2: Electric Boogaloo” so on an so forth.  For some reason—perhaps because i am an awful dancer– the movies really resonate for me.  I just watched Step-Up 3D (which was somehow more ridiculous than the last iteration) but i enjoyed it nonetheless.  I got stuck on youtube looking at various dancers and choreographers, and i mean stuck..like…2 hours, or something…anyways, i stumbled across this dude Dejan Tubic.  he is outta control…and he’s like…19 or something.  attaching a couple vids… head over to his chan here: http://www.youtube.com/user/iDejANCE

side note : alyssa chang is the young dancer who was on Ellen Degeneres’s show doing his choregraphy for Will Smith’s  daughter’s song “whip my hair”  which is worth checking out too.

side side note:  man he works with some really talented folks… JayJun, Janelle Ginestra, Brooke Shepard. ..must be something in the water out there :p

 

Because internet memes are better once the bandwagon jumpers move on ;)

http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/keanu-is-sadsad-keanu

 

Meet MC DJ

So i was introduced to MC DJ (aka Childish Gambino aka Donald Glover etc) through a post of someone i subscribe to on youtube.  His remixes of songs, particularly those of Sufjan Stevens, are some of the most amazing remixes ive ever heard.  He is up there (whereever *there* is), in my (perhaps not so) humble estimation, with Cornelius (its a facebook page…sorry his actual webpage is a nightmare to navigate, lol)and his remixes of Beck, Blur, and Sting(ill post another time about those…),  I am linking three fantastic remixes here, but you should seek the rest out.

casimir [pulaski day] is probably one of the saddest songs I have ever heard…but it is also one of the most beautiful.

 

Thank you Kurt Vonnegut

4 Years ago, today, Kurt Vonnegut left this world–a little saner, a little more human, a little kinder than it was when he entered it.  I can think of no author who more profoundly affected my outlook on life and the way people (mis)treat one another.  I love Kurt Vonnegut for being human, for being frank, for daring to be honest, warts and all, about the world in which we live.  Thank you Kurt.So it goes.

Kurt Vonnegut

 

Hope for the flowers, or: How a friend’s impending childbirth has me nostalgic for my childhood…

So I was out at the local suburban wasteland (read: mall) with a couple of my married friends who are expecting their first child here sometime in august, or whereabouts.  Our perambulations (google it!) brought us, by the by to a  Borders where we gravitated to the children’s section where we talked about our favorite childhood books and the excitement of sharing those first-loves with their child. Side note 1: I am sad that numerous borders in the midwest are closing…curse you kindle, nook, and other sundry ebook readers!  sidenote 2: My favorite childhood books are: The Giving Tree

giving tree cover

Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel

Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel

Courdoroy

Courdoroy

But I digress.  LOL. The point of this post is to talk about another book; another favorite of mine, called Hope for the Flowers, by Trina Paulus.

Hope for the Flowers - Trina Paulus

It is a sadly sweet story, that I wont do the great injustice of trying to synopsize here.  But if you check it out on amazon or any of the sundry other places people leave reviews, you will see general consensus about the content.  My reason for bringing it up is that as I look back on the stories that touched me as a child, they often have a melancholic edge to them, a sort of world weariness that seems at odds with the wonder and exuberance of childhood.  As i think about bring a child into this world, and helping mold their view of the world, and their place in it, I am struck with the notion that emotionally and psychologically kids have a lot to contend with in contemporary society.  I wonder if the melancholy is a natural product when adults try to give comfort, and hope to children, that it is impossible for some of the sadnesses of life not creeping in around the edges.  Or perhaps im just over thinking things and my melancholy is not indicative of others’ childhoods.  At any rate, I cherish my sadly sweet  books from childhood.  I think my sentimentality and my kinder natures (theyre there, deep down–promise) are resonant with these stories.  If anyone reads this, and wants to share, please do 🙂  i’ll have lotsa books to buy this lil bundle of hopes and dreams later this year…

 

Emma Fitzgerald – artist

So i have a new artist whose work i am mooning over 😛 Ms. Fitzgerald works in a variety of media  and you should check out her website.  I recently purchesed a lovely notecard print of one of her pieces,

Innumerable Wandering Balloons Greeting Card

This lovely piece is decorating my office at work and i plan to buy more of her work.  It speaks to me i guess.  Anyways, she has done some incredible videos that you can find on her website, on vimeo, youtube, and sundry other places.  Check her out.

 

Obscurus Lupa Presents

Check out Obscurus Lupa, it is a webseries doing reviews of generally awful 80’s and 90s movies.  It’s like MST3K only profane, lol. The host is as funny as the moves are terrible, which is saying a lot 😉

Thanks to dascottjr (of Total Eclipse of the Heart literal version (and others) fame) for the heads up on this.  Who knew that Nirvana videos gave birth to such things?!

Enjoy 🙂