The Click Heard Round the World

Fundraiser for SL Shakespeare Company tomorrow

The SL Shakespeare Company has begun an ambitious fundraising campaign to raise 14 million linden dollars (~US $56,000) to support their performances of the Bard in the virtual Globe Theater in Second Life.  This Friday, July 18, they kick off their campaign with a “Twelfth Night MegaFundundraiser” hoping to raise the first L$1 million:

At 1pm PST on Friday the 18th, seven actors will be jailed for their acting crimes by “an evil director,” likely Enniv Zarf, producer and director of the Twelfth Night staged reading series. Each actor’s bail will be set to L$100,000. Their goal is to woo the audience with only improv acting and their wits. Enniv Zarf explains, “The practical point is to get all of them out by 7 PM so that we can give the encore performance at our previously scheduled time.”  For the remaining L$300,000, the Company also plans to turn the SL Globe Theatre into a true black box theatre—“black, black, and nothing else”—in the historic first ransom of a virtual building.

Sounds like a fun time for a good cause.  Head to this teleport link to participate and donate!  More details about the fundraiser after the jump...

Happy International Justice Day!

Press conference in Rome held by the Coalition for an ICC, July 1998. Credit: CICC.

Ten years ago today, the world took a historic step from impunity toward accountability by creating the International Criminal Court.  On July 17, 1998 in Rome Italy, 120 governments of the world signed into being the Rome Treaty on the International Criminal Court, "one of the most important advances in international law and human rights since the adoption of the UN Charter in 1948" according to my old boss Bill Pace of the Coalition for the ICC.The International Criminal Court is a permanent human rights tribunal based in the Hague, Netherlands, whose mission is to hold accountable those who commit the worst offenses of justice in the world, including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

I was privileged enough to be there in Rome for the treaty conference, at the time serving as the communications coordinator for the Coalition for an ICC.  I was responsible for the communications going into and out of the conference to our hundreds of allied organizations and activists around the world, including writing a daily newsletter and email blast to our constituents.  It was perhaps the most important thing that I have ever done in my 20 year career as an activist organizer.

Today the ICC is doing remarkable things and having a broader impact around the world that we may not even be able to assess in this generation.  Notably:

• This week, the ICC prosecutor applied for the indictment of Sudanese President Sudan Omar al-Bashir on genocide charges -- the first arrest warrant against a sitting head of state.
• Last week, former Congolese Vice President and rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo was arrested in Belgium and transferred to The Hague in the first arrest issued for the investigation into human rights violations in the Central African Republic.
• The ICC is also proceeding with prosecutions against Thomas Lubanga Dyilo and Congolese warlords Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui.
• The prosecutor is looking into situations in other regions, including Afghanistan and Colombia.
• With the addition of Suriname earlier this week, the number of countries who have ratified the treaty is at 107!

These are amazing times. I'm so proud to have been able to have been able to play some small part in getting us to this point.

Visit the Coalition website for more on this significant achievement.

Me dancing with Voon at Midsummer Nights Swing

Here's a quick clip of me dancing with one of my favorite new lindy hoppers Voon at Midsummer Nights Swing last night.  Taken by my friend Will.

Why it's a good thing to dance with strangers

Midsummer Nights Swing photo by my friend Jerry

Swing dancing at outdoor venues like Midsummer Nights Swing often presents many opportunities to dance with random strangers who are hanging around the sidelines of the dancefloor. As a leader in particular, you often have your pick of ladies clearly itching to dance.  I'm not particularly good about asking strangers to dance at big public venues like this, unlike my buddy Effervescent who really lives for that sort of thing.  But I think it can be useful for a social dancer to do this for a number of reasons:

• It makes you a better leader. (Sorry I can't speak for the followers.) But as a leader, dancing with someone who has probably no background at all in lindy hop or swing really forces me to be as clear and attentive as possible.
• It's a great ego boost. The person is invariably blown away by even the simplest moves that you lead, which helps you feel good about your dancing.
• You might convert someone. The scene always needs new blood to stay vital. So by giving a non-dancer a fun experience dancing with you, you might inspire them to start taking classes or coming out to other swing nights.   
• You might learn something. Just because someone might not be a swing dancer doesn't mean she is therefore a bad dancer.  You could learn a lot by dancing with a hustle, tango, or ballroom dancer.
• It might actually be fun.  If you go in, thinking that you are "doing your duty" you might miss out on a really fun dance.  No, it will not be the ultimate expression of pure lindy, but it can be just two people goofing around and enjoying each other.  Which is awesome.

I'm going to try and keep this in mind as I go to more public dance events this Summer.

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.

Going on a virtual hajj on IslamOnline island

I read on my Google News feed that IslamOnline.net recently established a two-sim estate in Second Life to educate people about Islam (Click here to teleport.)  I found that the estate consists of four areas:

1. An education center
2. An amphitheater
3. A Palestinian Holocaust Memorial Museum
4. and a Virtual Hajj

The virtual hajj was particularly interesting to me because it's one of those profound experiences that a non-muslim will never get to go through.  The hajj, for those that don't know, is an elaborate pilgrimage to mecca that every able-bodied muslim is supposed to do at least once in their lives. 

I spent an hour and a half there tonight, and I have to say it is well worth a visit for anyone who wants to learn more about this ancient faith.  Here is a brief description of what the virtual hajj is like.

Me solo charlestoning and breaking at Moondance on Pier54

Here's a short video taken by my friend Will of me doing some solo charleston and a little bit of breaking at the Moondance last night at Pier54. Look for my signature "Rusty Dusty" move toward the middle.

Thanks, Will!

Grooving to the Sultans of Swing at Pier 54 this evening

I had a lovely Sunday, starting with Quaker meeting, then brunch with my sister for her birthday, followed by some breaking practice at home. 

In the evening, I headed out to Pier 54 on the Hudson River to catch Dave Berger and the Sultans of Swing playing swing music for the masses, sponsored by Dance Manhattan Studios.  It was simply a gorgeous evening, a cool breeze coming off the Hudson, the light fading into darkness, hundreds of dancers and music fans crammed onto the pier.  I got some really fun dances in with friends and strangers alike, and just enjoyed absorbing the happy vibe in the air.

After the concert, I had a relaxing bike ride home on my roommate Swifty's sweet mountain bike that he has lent to me while he is traveling the next few weeks.  That should give me some time to figure out what I'm going to do about replacing my Brompton.

My 30 second review of the Casio 53W digital calculator watch

Here's my review of the nerdalicious Casio 53W digital watch that I posted to Amazon today.  Could I be a bigger dork?

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!