In anticipation of the anniversary of my project launch Oct. 2, 2010, I've moved my project onto the WordPress platform.
What can you expect to happen?
1) I will no longer be maintaining the HipsForHire.blogspot.com site. All Hips For Hire blog posts, including guest blogger submissions, will appear on the blogpage of the relocated HipsForHire.com website now turned webblog.
2) Artists will be purchasing premium services at very low rates, and they will receive a blogpost about their work as well as a landing page featuring them with an attractive photo and a short video.
3) Visitors will enjoy a video a day, selected from Youtube and other Social Media tools. The video will highlight a lesser-known artist who I think you'll really enjoy, or who inspires me to be a better performer. You can submit requests to info@hipsforhire.com
4) Hips For Hire will be partnering with other companies that can help artists become more successful at what they do, including event planning companies, caterers, web design people, and more.
5) You'll be able to find affiliate links or Amazon links to products that help you as an artist build your business. More and more, I've seen that artists need the tools to help brand and advertise their work in a competitive market.
6) Hips For Hire will be adding artist interviews. Want to see inside a musician's home studio? Want to know how to create superior sound, lighting, or get just that right movement at the right time? You're going to love my roving camera work as I find you the artists and visual artists to follow.
Thanks for hanging out on the blogger site until I was ready to make the move. My thanks to Kristin Marshall for her time, attention, and skills to making my transition go smoothly.
Follow me on Twitter @hipsforhire
And now join me on HipsForHire.com
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Cultural Dance Mashup
Starting September 1, 2010, I'm attempting to highlight one performance art video from Youtube or other video services, gleaning from lesser-known yet talented people. In my quest to help artists get the notice they deserve, each video will bring you a little something special to brighten your day.
Here's a cultural mashup dance I found in Seattle. There was little other information provided other the than the title, Dance This Seattle 5 (please contact for more thorough credits):
Know a performance artist that deserves a little more airplay? Please forward video clip links or tips to info@HipsForHire.com.
Here's a cultural mashup dance I found in Seattle. There was little other information provided other the than the title, Dance This Seattle 5 (please contact for more thorough credits):
Know a performance artist that deserves a little more airplay? Please forward video clip links or tips to info@HipsForHire.com.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Geek Dance Fun
Not all art has to be serious.
To appreciate art, you don't have to have overly long hair, act pretentious, or know how to open up a glass of red wine. As a performance artist for ten years as a dancer, and over twenty years in music, art is an experience of the moment, and emotional rush, and a connection you make with your audience.
In the past two years, I've been experimenting more and more with dance as comedy, knowing that a moment of laughter that we share becomes a moving image burned into your neural network. Some people might find my dancing a mockery of the art of bellydance, hip hop, and Bollywood, but I'll remind you that some of the most respected dancers in all three genres weave well-timed, whimsical aspects of dance into their routines.
Do you think you can dance? Do you like making people laugh? Try combining the two! You get to dance, and you don't have to pass gas loudly and light your farts on fire to make people laugh with you.
Don't forget to follow me on Twitter @HipsForHire and Facebook ImeiYogaDance.
To appreciate art, you don't have to have overly long hair, act pretentious, or know how to open up a glass of red wine. As a performance artist for ten years as a dancer, and over twenty years in music, art is an experience of the moment, and emotional rush, and a connection you make with your audience.
In the past two years, I've been experimenting more and more with dance as comedy, knowing that a moment of laughter that we share becomes a moving image burned into your neural network. Some people might find my dancing a mockery of the art of bellydance, hip hop, and Bollywood, but I'll remind you that some of the most respected dancers in all three genres weave well-timed, whimsical aspects of dance into their routines.
Do you think you can dance? Do you like making people laugh? Try combining the two! You get to dance, and you don't have to pass gas loudly and light your farts on fire to make people laugh with you.
Don't forget to follow me on Twitter @HipsForHire and Facebook ImeiYogaDance.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow
 |
| Rubberbands secure the hair for shipping |
Two hours later, I returned to Pho Fuchia, reordering the lunch they had to waste. One of the waitresses looked at me hard, then said, "Wait, didn't you have long hair a few hours ago?" I showed her the bag of hair, ready to mail to Wigs For Kids, and she teared up.
"Can you give me the address so I can donate my hair too?" she asked. A year ago, her mother passed away from cancer, and she had been looking for a way she could honor her mother's memory.
It's only been a few hours, and though I feel lighter and freer, there is a loss in cutting off what feels like a woman's pride to grow her hair long. Still, I will tell anyone who can grow their hair for the minimum 12 inches required, it is a deep honor to be able to do something like this. I hope you'll join me if you can, or send a donation to WigsforKids.org. [Addendum: I have raised four people who have committed to doing the same thing. Will you join us? Email me at videonurse@me.com, or leave a comment below, and I will give you support to help you change someone else's life, helping a child be him or herself with confidence].
n00b View On Gnomedex
n00b View On Gnomedex
Follow me on Twitter @HipsForHire
Follow me on FB ImeiYogaDance
As promised, here are my thoughts on Gnomedex from the perspective of the new kid on the block, and a new volunteer to Gnomedex. Volunteering for the conference meant my priorities were not around snapping photos and doing interviews. Instead, I had a unique, up close, and personal look at the Geek behind Gnomedex, the volunteers, the sponsors, and the speakers.
If you're looking for dirt, you usually find it. However, if you're looking for the dirt on Gnomedex, I'll leave that for Reddit.com to dish it out.
Five reasons why I LOVED volunteering for Gnomedex:
1. The speakers. My volunteer job was to assist Chris with curating two-day's worth of solid content and personable speakers. Over the years, Chris has learned that brilliant content can fall flat if the stage is not set, the speaker is not coached, and the community is not prepared. From day one, we dreamed of what speakers we would love to have join us, and received suggestions from volunteers, past speakers, and not-a-few unsolicited self-promoting queries.
The majority of the speaker line up you saw at Gnomedex came together quite quickly. Three of them were added to the lineup in the last 48 hours prior to the launch party. I bow and take off my hat to the handful of speakers who were given less than a week to prepare for their thirty-minute presentations. It was not only a thrill to watch you fly, but a reminder to me to just "let it ride" when you put your content out there. You've inspired me to take more risks, to try new things, and to seek to inspire others.
If you look on my iPhone for who I took the most pictures of, you'll notice that I took one of every speaker. Do I have a favorite speaker for Gnomedex? No. Do I know some better than others? Absolutely. Speakers who took the time to connect with me personally have left an indelible mark on my soul for their personal and professional contributions to my conference experience. Of course, I have a little more "happy puppy love" for those who were able to make it to my Belly Dance Tweetup at the end of Seattle Geek Week! You rawk. [So do your butts].
2. Chris Pirillo. The great thing about working alongside Chris is that he is so multi-talented. The challenge with working alongside Chris is that he is so multi-talented! Learning the process of conducting such a beloved conference from the Geek himself is a pleasure and an honor.
Sometime next week when I've turned over all the data of Gnomedex I was responsible for over to Kat and Chris, I'm going to poke my eyes out to give them a rest, because I swear I've poured over emails, documents, charts, phone numbers, venues, and threads so many times to catch the details, my eyes are swimming. But with Chris, you learn to be detail-oriented, professional, and thorough. If anyone reads this and wants to offer me a part-time, project-oriented job, I'm going to be asking Chris to tell you what he put me through to make me qualified to do almost anything short of coding.
3. Magic. For some reason, I like knowing that the magic we know as dance, music, performance, and public speaking has a math to it; meaning, even magic has a logical explanation. By volunteering, I felt I was part of the magic of the conference that so many others enjoy, whether in person, or via Youtube videos and livestreaming of the event.
Along with the magic comes the swag! I love watching people's faces light up when they won something. You'd think they were on "The Price Is Right", prancing down the aisle towards the stage to pick up their goodies. Sponsors provided great swag, such as Parallels, a night's stay at Hotel Max, a Wi-Fi iPad, and Throwboy pillow. Conferees changed out their own T-shirts for either the official Gnomdex T-shirt, or Swedish Hospital's, H1Nerd1 shirt.
4. It's finite. I enjoy projects that have a start and finish. Gnomedex had a birth, and it had a death. The next weeks and months are going to be interesting as all of us come to terms with ending something we believed in. My hope is that like all endings, it signals the beginning of something new.
5. Community. As a newbie, many of you reached out to me and made me feel welcome. While you could have treated me as unnoticeable hired help, you asked for my name, you connected it with my work, and you expressed kindness and interest. For all the dysfunction that I have seen in Social Media circles since the beginning of my year as "the n00b of Social Media", I saw many of you caring for others, including them in meals and conversations, and working against exclusion. Some of you even laughed at my jokes! I felt like less of a dweeb.
Five reasons why I HATED volunteering for Gnomedex
1. There is only one of me. I couldn't be doing one thing and taking care of another thing. I can't count on my hands and feet the number of times I had to end a great conversation to take care of an urgent need. I swear, this must be how new mothers feel: they never get to finish a conversation before the baby is spitting, shitting, or threating to put shit in their mouths and choke on it. The baby was Gnomedex, and it demands your attention.
2. No sleep for the wicked. It is very hard to be of any help to anyone when you don't get sleep. Volunteers sacrifice time, energy, and sleep, with many of us treating our volunteer activities like a job in the months before the conference. I had two nightmares before the start of the conference about something going wrong. One of the nightmares was true, involving an element in the schedule. The other nightmare had something to do with Chris stomping around the Gnomedex stage wearing nothing but pajama bottoms and swinging a light saber. I think that was brought on by sleep deprivation.
3. Volunteering means putting others first. If you are a selfish little arse, you won't make it very far. But I learned the hard way that if you put something out there for free, it will be gnawed to the bone. I knew I should have grabbed that scrap of food before it was gone...
But in all seriousness, serving others does bring up the question of taking care of your own needs. If you suck at putting others first, you do not know what it means to ask Chris or his volunteers - or even a paid event managing staff -- to conduct a future Gnomedex.
4. Disability. I think my right arm and my left wrist need to be in a cast for a few weeks to recover from responding to a million and one emails that flew by me from March 2010 until August. Can you say, "repetitive motion injury"? I am too tired to correct the auto-correction on my iPhone, so messages to Kat and Chris sound like teenage texts involving pee and poop.
5. Coma. My brain was firing on all cylinders, but fueled on PopChips and Zing bars. We had such amazing speakers, and it will be months before I will be able to sit back and enjoy their presentations without interruption. I did not get to sit back and absorb all the nuances that make Gnomedex magical. While audience members got to enjoy everything going "right" on the stage, volunteers have to keep their eyes open for everything that can potentially go "wrong", and step in to fix it.
That's the nature of being a volunteer. What that does to you brain is make you appear like you have a brain the size of a walnut, a.k.a. "I am my cat". I'm not sure if I put one intelligent word after another when I congratulated speakers for their presentations, or said hello at an after party and remembered names and faces. It's one big blur of silly-happy exhaustion.
I can say that when it was time to jump off the platform and fly Saturday night at Emerald City Trapeze Arts, I was so glad I had said "yes" back in the spring.
To Chris and the volunteers of the last Gnomedex, thank you for having me on board. Let's go flying, but for real. May you take your best ideas and inspiration from Gnomedex, and see them soar.
Follow me on Twitter @HipsForHire
Follow me on FB ImeiYogaDance
As promised, here are my thoughts on Gnomedex from the perspective of the new kid on the block, and a new volunteer to Gnomedex. Volunteering for the conference meant my priorities were not around snapping photos and doing interviews. Instead, I had a unique, up close, and personal look at the Geek behind Gnomedex, the volunteers, the sponsors, and the speakers.
If you're looking for dirt, you usually find it. However, if you're looking for the dirt on Gnomedex, I'll leave that for Reddit.com to dish it out.
Five reasons why I LOVED volunteering for Gnomedex:
1. The speakers. My volunteer job was to assist Chris with curating two-day's worth of solid content and personable speakers. Over the years, Chris has learned that brilliant content can fall flat if the stage is not set, the speaker is not coached, and the community is not prepared. From day one, we dreamed of what speakers we would love to have join us, and received suggestions from volunteers, past speakers, and not-a-few unsolicited self-promoting queries.
The majority of the speaker line up you saw at Gnomedex came together quite quickly. Three of them were added to the lineup in the last 48 hours prior to the launch party. I bow and take off my hat to the handful of speakers who were given less than a week to prepare for their thirty-minute presentations. It was not only a thrill to watch you fly, but a reminder to me to just "let it ride" when you put your content out there. You've inspired me to take more risks, to try new things, and to seek to inspire others.
If you look on my iPhone for who I took the most pictures of, you'll notice that I took one of every speaker. Do I have a favorite speaker for Gnomedex? No. Do I know some better than others? Absolutely. Speakers who took the time to connect with me personally have left an indelible mark on my soul for their personal and professional contributions to my conference experience. Of course, I have a little more "happy puppy love" for those who were able to make it to my Belly Dance Tweetup at the end of Seattle Geek Week! You rawk. [So do your butts].
2. Chris Pirillo. The great thing about working alongside Chris is that he is so multi-talented. The challenge with working alongside Chris is that he is so multi-talented! Learning the process of conducting such a beloved conference from the Geek himself is a pleasure and an honor.
Sometime next week when I've turned over all the data of Gnomedex I was responsible for over to Kat and Chris, I'm going to poke my eyes out to give them a rest, because I swear I've poured over emails, documents, charts, phone numbers, venues, and threads so many times to catch the details, my eyes are swimming. But with Chris, you learn to be detail-oriented, professional, and thorough. If anyone reads this and wants to offer me a part-time, project-oriented job, I'm going to be asking Chris to tell you what he put me through to make me qualified to do almost anything short of coding.
3. Magic. For some reason, I like knowing that the magic we know as dance, music, performance, and public speaking has a math to it; meaning, even magic has a logical explanation. By volunteering, I felt I was part of the magic of the conference that so many others enjoy, whether in person, or via Youtube videos and livestreaming of the event.
Along with the magic comes the swag! I love watching people's faces light up when they won something. You'd think they were on "The Price Is Right", prancing down the aisle towards the stage to pick up their goodies. Sponsors provided great swag, such as Parallels, a night's stay at Hotel Max, a Wi-Fi iPad, and Throwboy pillow. Conferees changed out their own T-shirts for either the official Gnomdex T-shirt, or Swedish Hospital's, H1Nerd1 shirt.
4. It's finite. I enjoy projects that have a start and finish. Gnomedex had a birth, and it had a death. The next weeks and months are going to be interesting as all of us come to terms with ending something we believed in. My hope is that like all endings, it signals the beginning of something new.
5. Community. As a newbie, many of you reached out to me and made me feel welcome. While you could have treated me as unnoticeable hired help, you asked for my name, you connected it with my work, and you expressed kindness and interest. For all the dysfunction that I have seen in Social Media circles since the beginning of my year as "the n00b of Social Media", I saw many of you caring for others, including them in meals and conversations, and working against exclusion. Some of you even laughed at my jokes! I felt like less of a dweeb.
Five reasons why I HATED volunteering for Gnomedex
1. There is only one of me. I couldn't be doing one thing and taking care of another thing. I can't count on my hands and feet the number of times I had to end a great conversation to take care of an urgent need. I swear, this must be how new mothers feel: they never get to finish a conversation before the baby is spitting, shitting, or threating to put shit in their mouths and choke on it. The baby was Gnomedex, and it demands your attention.
2. No sleep for the wicked. It is very hard to be of any help to anyone when you don't get sleep. Volunteers sacrifice time, energy, and sleep, with many of us treating our volunteer activities like a job in the months before the conference. I had two nightmares before the start of the conference about something going wrong. One of the nightmares was true, involving an element in the schedule. The other nightmare had something to do with Chris stomping around the Gnomedex stage wearing nothing but pajama bottoms and swinging a light saber. I think that was brought on by sleep deprivation.
3. Volunteering means putting others first. If you are a selfish little arse, you won't make it very far. But I learned the hard way that if you put something out there for free, it will be gnawed to the bone. I knew I should have grabbed that scrap of food before it was gone...
But in all seriousness, serving others does bring up the question of taking care of your own needs. If you suck at putting others first, you do not know what it means to ask Chris or his volunteers - or even a paid event managing staff -- to conduct a future Gnomedex.
4. Disability. I think my right arm and my left wrist need to be in a cast for a few weeks to recover from responding to a million and one emails that flew by me from March 2010 until August. Can you say, "repetitive motion injury"? I am too tired to correct the auto-correction on my iPhone, so messages to Kat and Chris sound like teenage texts involving pee and poop.
5. Coma. My brain was firing on all cylinders, but fueled on PopChips and Zing bars. We had such amazing speakers, and it will be months before I will be able to sit back and enjoy their presentations without interruption. I did not get to sit back and absorb all the nuances that make Gnomedex magical. While audience members got to enjoy everything going "right" on the stage, volunteers have to keep their eyes open for everything that can potentially go "wrong", and step in to fix it.
That's the nature of being a volunteer. What that does to you brain is make you appear like you have a brain the size of a walnut, a.k.a. "I am my cat". I'm not sure if I put one intelligent word after another when I congratulated speakers for their presentations, or said hello at an after party and remembered names and faces. It's one big blur of silly-happy exhaustion.
I can say that when it was time to jump off the platform and fly Saturday night at Emerald City Trapeze Arts, I was so glad I had said "yes" back in the spring.
To Chris and the volunteers of the last Gnomedex, thank you for having me on board. Let's go flying, but for real. May you take your best ideas and inspiration from Gnomedex, and see them soar.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
iPhone Unboxing Song
In the midst of the chaos and the cool of Seattle Geek Week and volunteering for Gnomedex, I had planned for my iPhone 4 to arrive. I had to make my journey to the dark side complete, as the daughter of PC store owners George and Ruth Hsu in the 1980's (Micro Options, formerly in Bellevue, WA. Now I have a MacBook, iPad, and an iPhone to make synching my life online a little less painful.
[Author's note: both my parents are still PC's, my brother is a Mac, and my sister is a little bit country and a little bit rock and roll]
Just minutes into turning it on and synching it with my MacBook, live streamer Matthew Sabia captured this off Ustream.tv, and I had a second camera (which is the Picture in Picture shot) recording the momentous event. Unfortunately, iMovie was being a poopy head when I tried to edit the timing of the second clip, but at least you'll see, I am forever a Bollywood dancer.
[Author's note: both my parents are still PC's, my brother is a Mac, and my sister is a little bit country and a little bit rock and roll]
Just minutes into turning it on and synching it with my MacBook, live streamer Matthew Sabia captured this off Ustream.tv, and I had a second camera (which is the Picture in Picture shot) recording the momentous event. Unfortunately, iMovie was being a poopy head when I tried to edit the timing of the second clip, but at least you'll see, I am forever a Bollywood dancer.
Monday, August 23, 2010
@hipsforhire at her Geektastic Best: the Princess Leia belly... on Twitpic
Thanks to Heidi Miller for the photo. Taken at Kalia Indian Cuisine, Seattle WA
Follow me on Twitter @hipsforhire or Facebook ImeiYogaDance
Geek Out
Do geeks like dance?
The " A Mostly Portland Show" with Pearls of the East (in conjunction with HipsForHire.com) was a hit with the Seattle Geek Week community, and I have already received a request to repeat it again as the closing act to next year's Seattle Geek Week.
A "geek" is anyone who has a passion for a specific interest, and I combined my interests in tech, dance, and healthcare. And the geeks came out, including web celebrities Carol Tran of Chic Meets Geek, Chris Pirillo of Lockergnome, Violet Blue (you may have seen her on Oprah, talking about Open Source Sex) of Tiny Nibbles, and locals Willow Bl00 (transhumanism) as the MC, and Heidi Miller (Social Media consultant). Heidi Miller informed me that Seattle tech news pages selected my event for exposure via an aggregator of tweets and retweets (translation: people are voting up your event online). I guess the n00b of Social Media continues to learn, and though I'm nowhere near being a "guru", I think people are leaving off the "n00b" part of my self-imposed title.
Because I asked Mayor McGinn to issue a proclamation to make Seattle Geek Week official, my event was broadcasted to press and to the world beyond Seattle, as well as my campaign to find 10 more people to make a commitment to donate their hair by Dec. 31, 2010 and join me when I donate my hair on August 26 to WigsForKids.org. If you are interested, see my video about donating your hair.
The pleasure for me as a show producer is seeing their phones come out (for tweeting and filming on well-watched Twitter and Facebook channels), as well as their jaws drop when they see the shimmies, zills, canes, veils, and fans come out. The ladies of Portland -- Jewels, Znama Dance Company, Tiffany, and Gretchen - did a fabulous, diverse, and seamless performance line up. I could not ask for more from a group of self-less dancers. To be able to raise awareness and campaign for a charity like WigsForKids.org blows my mind.
Unbeknownst to most people, I had been dying for the opportunity to create and perform a montage of music for an 8-minute-or-less "Geek Dance" replete with elements that would make most geeks laugh hard enough to pee their hands. Apparently, I rocked it because one of the tweets I read told me I hit paydirt:
heidimillerAug 22, 7:27pm via HootSuite
Also, stay tuned for "A Mostly Seattle Show" in Portland, OR (coming in Dec 2010 or January 2011), where we'll curate a dance "trunk show" to caravan south to Portland and give them a little flavor of the Emerald City.
Again, my thanks to the dancers, the dance community, the Seattle Social Media community, Seattle Geek Week participants, and Mayor McGinn for making last night a success.
Like any good project, if you build it, they will come. Sunday August 22, I built my monthly co-produced show Pearls of the East around Seattle Geek Week, and starting asking the community to support it over a month ago. I received a few odd-ball comments, such as "what does belly dance have to do with technology"? Yet, once we explained the concept of Seattle Geek Week, events started pouring in, such as a golf day for Geeks of WTIA, and Chic Meets Geek, bridging the gulf between cultural influencer and intellectual techies.
The " A Mostly Portland Show" with Pearls of the East (in conjunction with HipsForHire.com) was a hit with the Seattle Geek Week community, and I have already received a request to repeat it again as the closing act to next year's Seattle Geek Week.
A "geek" is anyone who has a passion for a specific interest, and I combined my interests in tech, dance, and healthcare. And the geeks came out, including web celebrities Carol Tran of Chic Meets Geek, Chris Pirillo of Lockergnome, Violet Blue (you may have seen her on Oprah, talking about Open Source Sex) of Tiny Nibbles, and locals Willow Bl00 (transhumanism) as the MC, and Heidi Miller (Social Media consultant). Heidi Miller informed me that Seattle tech news pages selected my event for exposure via an aggregator of tweets and retweets (translation: people are voting up your event online). I guess the n00b of Social Media continues to learn, and though I'm nowhere near being a "guru", I think people are leaving off the "n00b" part of my self-imposed title.
Because I asked Mayor McGinn to issue a proclamation to make Seattle Geek Week official, my event was broadcasted to press and to the world beyond Seattle, as well as my campaign to find 10 more people to make a commitment to donate their hair by Dec. 31, 2010 and join me when I donate my hair on August 26 to WigsForKids.org. If you are interested, see my video about donating your hair.
The pleasure for me as a show producer is seeing their phones come out (for tweeting and filming on well-watched Twitter and Facebook channels), as well as their jaws drop when they see the shimmies, zills, canes, veils, and fans come out. The ladies of Portland -- Jewels, Znama Dance Company, Tiffany, and Gretchen - did a fabulous, diverse, and seamless performance line up. I could not ask for more from a group of self-less dancers. To be able to raise awareness and campaign for a charity like WigsForKids.org blows my mind.
Unbeknownst to most people, I had been dying for the opportunity to create and perform a montage of music for an 8-minute-or-less "Geek Dance" replete with elements that would make most geeks laugh hard enough to pee their hands. Apparently, I rocked it because one of the tweets I read told me I hit paydirt:
heidimillerAug 22, 7:27pm via HootSuite
Also, stay tuned for "A Mostly Seattle Show" in Portland, OR (coming in Dec 2010 or January 2011), where we'll curate a dance "trunk show" to caravan south to Portland and give them a little flavor of the Emerald City.
Again, my thanks to the dancers, the dance community, the Seattle Social Media community, Seattle Geek Week participants, and Mayor McGinn for making last night a success.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Gnomedex Recap from the n00b (coming soon!)
I hope you've been following my tweets on HipsforHire on Twitter, and seeing why a performance artist and healthcare advocate might be so interested in technology and its ability to change the world.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Saturday, August 14, 2010
The Big Chop-Chop: Studio 904 in Pioneer Square
A few days ago, I asked for help finding a salon to harvest my hair for WigsForKids.org:
The loss of hair is enough of a traumatizing experience. To have to pay high salon fees for that act just compounds the emotions even more. So I'm asking that if you know of a place that will follow the carefully described rules for collecting and donating the hair properly, I'd like to find that salon. The salon must be in the Seattle area (within a 15 mile radius of West Seattle), and willing to be written up for press about my experience.
If you are a salon owner, the wigs for kids site has a description that shows you exactly how they would like the hair collected and shipped for maximum hair usage. All I ask is that I be treated with compassion, and that I get a professional hair cut out of the deal for the next phase of my life. You get my blogpost and video of my experience, and a little bit of exposure for your business.
Thanks to Studio 904 in the Pioneer Square area of Seattle, I'll be able to harvest my hair in a compassionate setting. They've done collections for Locks of Love in the past, and they were also very accommodating of my wishes to get it filmed, as I want to inspire others to do the same.
With just under two weeks left to enjoy my long hair, I have a lot of mixed feelings. The big "chop chop" is nothing like the "little snip snip" that many men decide to do. Cutting one's hair is public, image-altering, but not permanent. Having a vasectomy is private, unnoticeable, but permanent. For now, I'm using this strange comparison to overcome my discomfort with cutting my hair.
You can participate in my donation, whether you live in Seattle or not, in the following ways:
1. Go to WigsForKids.org, and make a direct donation on their website.
2. Click on my Youtube video (it will be posted after August 26) and leave a video response of what you'd like to do to help kids with cancer.
3. Attend my Tweetup http://www.twtvite.com/bellydanceSGW August 22, and give your dollars during collection time at the event, and I will send in those dollars with my hair collection. If you mention Seattle Geek Week or the hashtag #SeaGW, you'll receive 10% off your food and bev tab for the evening.
I just got official word: Chris Pirillo will be attending this event after the hackathon event at the Edgewater Inn running earlier August 22. In addtion, I'm honoring Kat Armstrong, Community Manager for Geekshed as my very special guest for the evening.
I know of no better way to celebrate life, to journey through grief, and to help others, than to combine everything I love into one fantastic event than be giving. Thank you for your support, and I hope you'll participate with me in any way you can.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Balls: Part II How To Use Them
I, like thousands of others, got taken in. Yes, it does happen. The people behind TheChive.com, who have come up with other hoaxes, landed this one with the hope of going viral once again. Congratulations, guys: you got more people to regurgitate your make-believe story (*applause*).
Before you start giving them props and kudos for successfully spinning a tale about "Jenny", the disgruntled employee who quit her job using a series of 31 dry-erase board photo messages, you might want to consider another angle. In a way, I'd like to thank theChive.com guys not so much for their prank, but what their prank highlights: Social Media and Internet journalism is rife with regurgitated, over-spun stories instead of innovative, action-oriented content that inspires, improves the quality of life, or fills a need that makes a difference.
If we really have the balls, as I wrote about in my previous post "Balls: Not Only On the Guys", we would be action-oriented. We would be more like the people who are about to take the stages of the numerous Seattle Geek Week activities August 13 - 22, such as Austin Heap's work to help Iranian dissidents, or Johnny Diggz' Geeks Without Borders.
The Jenny story gave us some kicks and giggles. But if I wanted to be entertained, there is enough noise and Internet drivel available out there (and I've probably supplied a drop or two of that myself) on Youtube and Facebook from which to select for a good laugh. If I wanted to be emotionally manipulated for someone else's pleasure, I could find someone to re-enact a form of relational sadism upon me until my dying days (or just watch "The Notebook").
It was pointed out to me that perhaps the "Jenny" story served another purpose. Maybe the offshoot is that it inspires other people who hate their jobs to actually do something like "Jenny" did. I thought long and hard about it (about five seconds). Nah. I am not ready to assign that kind of credit for inspiration to change, when these guys knew they'd have to call it a hoax in less than 24 hours. True inspiration doesn't come from single acts of random people, but from consistent leadership that flows from character. I would rather applaud the people who will be coming to the Gnomedex stage August 19 - 21. There's no hoax involved. They are the real deal, and I am proud to be involved in curating the content that will be on the stage for this conference.
Maybe as our own little prank, those of us who got taken in by the "Jenny" story should invoice the Chive guys with the estimated cost of our wasted time. I'm sure the Jay Leno show and the Today Show might have some hefty bills. Let's see now: I charge $110- $175/hr for coaching. I took thirty minutes to respond to other people on FB and Twitter about the story, and ten minutes to review the hoax when it was revealed. I spent another five minutes responding to Twitter retweets, and fifteen minutes writing this blog post.
I'll be fair. The invoice for my time looks like about $110 sixty minutes, but I got an idea that's worth a million bucks to me out of the experience. That idea is this: keep doing original actions, and keep writing original content. Keep dancing original choreography, and keep performing original music. So, we'll call it even.
Thanks guys. By negative example, I figured out exactly who I don't want to be.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Balls: Not Just On the Boys
I applaud everyday heroes. They are unsung people who decide that passive aggressive action builds nothing more than resentment between themselves and the person they dislike, and revenge obliterates the object of their hatred so that they have nothing left to destroy but themselves.
So when Jenny uploaded 31 dry-erase messages to her co-workers and her boss, who her called her a HOPA after she transferred a professional call to him (Hot Piece of Ass), I wanted to stand up and cheer. Revenge would be to make his life miserable for his comment. Having the balls to quit without another job in place, yet to tell people why she quit with no regrets, is what I applaud her for. (Amendment: it turns out the Jenny story was a hoax from the jerks behind theChive.com. They seem to think it is funny to experiment on people and try to prove that people will believe anything, but all they proved to me is that some will stoop to any level to manipulate and take advantage of the good hearts of people. They wasted my time, all for their pleasure and probably for fame and fortune for themselves. The n00b has learned something new. There are some really creepy people out there.)
There are everyday heroes all around us. I once saw an American run alongside a bus in Beijing for nearly a half mile in the dead of winter, attempting to return the mitten of a young Chinese girl who had lost it as the bus door closed abruptly, snapping the mitten off her hand. I saw two men jump out of their cars when an elderly gentlemen slipped and fell on the sidewalk, hitting his head on a stone planter on the way down. One took off his jacket to stop the blood oozing from the man's head, while the other one called 911 on his cell phone (I came up just as the ambulance arrived).
Of course, I like stories where the underdog -- or at least the person with less perceived power -- stands up for what is right, and s/he puts a story "out there" for the world to see. Jenny may not be perfect, but Spencer (the boss who played Farmville on company time) will have something to think about for awhile, besides trying to figure out what other HOPA he can exploit and demean. And I hope someone will offer Jenny an honorable job, free from sexual harassment and "the little switch".
So when Jenny uploaded 31 dry-erase messages to her co-workers and her boss, who her called her a HOPA after she transferred a professional call to him (Hot Piece of Ass), I wanted to stand up and cheer. Revenge would be to make his life miserable for his comment. Having the balls to quit without another job in place, yet to tell people why she quit with no regrets, is what I applaud her for. (Amendment: it turns out the Jenny story was a hoax from the jerks behind theChive.com. They seem to think it is funny to experiment on people and try to prove that people will believe anything, but all they proved to me is that some will stoop to any level to manipulate and take advantage of the good hearts of people. They wasted my time, all for their pleasure and probably for fame and fortune for themselves. The n00b has learned something new. There are some really creepy people out there.)
There are everyday heroes all around us. I once saw an American run alongside a bus in Beijing for nearly a half mile in the dead of winter, attempting to return the mitten of a young Chinese girl who had lost it as the bus door closed abruptly, snapping the mitten off her hand. I saw two men jump out of their cars when an elderly gentlemen slipped and fell on the sidewalk, hitting his head on a stone planter on the way down. One took off his jacket to stop the blood oozing from the man's head, while the other one called 911 on his cell phone (I came up just as the ambulance arrived).
Of course, I like stories where the underdog -- or at least the person with less perceived power -- stands up for what is right, and s/he puts a story "out there" for the world to see. Jenny may not be perfect, but Spencer (the boss who played Farmville on company time) will have something to think about for awhile, besides trying to figure out what other HOPA he can exploit and demean. And I hope someone will offer Jenny an honorable job, free from sexual harassment and "the little switch".
Monday, August 9, 2010
Check Me In: No OCD Required
Mashable's article about live entertainment check in behavior got me thinking about the "check in" craze. I've not been one to jump on the Foursquare craze at all, though I think it's a superb business idea of anyone who has a store-front business. Check out the Mashable article before reading on.
Some people may feel that without geolocation as the primary motivation to use a check in service, the value of check in apps decreases. Yet imagine if check in apps had been installed near the Twitter feed going on for such historic events as the memorial for Michael Jackson. I'm not talking about geolocation in the sense of physically checking in. Instead, I'm talking about virtual check ins when you listen to your favorite music, like Beats Antique on Pandora, or a check in while watching "America's Got Talent". Mashable's article pointed out that when people watch a popular TV show, they watch it to the point of obsession (i.e. "Lost", or "Mad Men").
As we do more and more activities remotely, including working, check in behavior that is not oriented around physical check ins to places will likely become more popular. Psychologically, they may increase our feelings of belonging, especially in periods of intense work schedules, business travel, or isolation. Imagine checking in to your favorite TV show, while being on a trip far away from home, yet staying connected with people you know who also use the same check in apps. It's these small, cultural ties-that-bind that I believe will have use coming back for more: connection, that is.
The minute my iPhone is in my hot little hand, I'm going to be trying out some of these non-geolocating check in apps, and asking my friends to join me. It's just one more virtual party to throw, and there's no bottles or mess to clean up.
Some people may feel that without geolocation as the primary motivation to use a check in service, the value of check in apps decreases. Yet imagine if check in apps had been installed near the Twitter feed going on for such historic events as the memorial for Michael Jackson. I'm not talking about geolocation in the sense of physically checking in. Instead, I'm talking about virtual check ins when you listen to your favorite music, like Beats Antique on Pandora, or a check in while watching "America's Got Talent". Mashable's article pointed out that when people watch a popular TV show, they watch it to the point of obsession (i.e. "Lost", or "Mad Men").
As we do more and more activities remotely, including working, check in behavior that is not oriented around physical check ins to places will likely become more popular. Psychologically, they may increase our feelings of belonging, especially in periods of intense work schedules, business travel, or isolation. Imagine checking in to your favorite TV show, while being on a trip far away from home, yet staying connected with people you know who also use the same check in apps. It's these small, cultural ties-that-bind that I believe will have use coming back for more: connection, that is.
The minute my iPhone is in my hot little hand, I'm going to be trying out some of these non-geolocating check in apps, and asking my friends to join me. It's just one more virtual party to throw, and there's no bottles or mess to clean up.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Where To Get It Chopped Off
Sometimes the start of something new involves both excitement and grief. I decided back in spring to make the best of a new start by donating my hair at the end of summer to Wigs For Kids (since Locks of Love appears to be in some kind of problems concerning fraud).
In the Asian culture (particularly in the case of death or lost love), a woman cuts her hair to symbolize her grief. I wanted to put a modern spin on that act by donating my hair to a good cause, so that even with loss, someone may benefit by my sorrow.
The loss of hair is enough of a traumatizing experience. To have to pay high salon fees for that act just compounds the emotions even more. So I'm asking that if you know of a place that will follow the carefully described rules for collecting and donating the hair properly, I'd like to find that salon. The salon must be in the Seattle area (within a 15 mile radius of West Seattle), and willing to be written up for press about my experience.
If you are a salon owner, the wigs for kids site has a description that shows you exactly how they would like the hair collected and shipped for maximum hair usage. All I ask is that I be treated with compassion, and that I get a professional hair cut out of the deal for the next phase of my life. You get my blogpost and video of my experience, and a little bit of exposure for your business.
In the Asian culture (particularly in the case of death or lost love), a woman cuts her hair to symbolize her grief. I wanted to put a modern spin on that act by donating my hair to a good cause, so that even with loss, someone may benefit by my sorrow.
The loss of hair is enough of a traumatizing experience. To have to pay high salon fees for that act just compounds the emotions even more. So I'm asking that if you know of a place that will follow the carefully described rules for collecting and donating the hair properly, I'd like to find that salon. The salon must be in the Seattle area (within a 15 mile radius of West Seattle), and willing to be written up for press about my experience.
If you are a salon owner, the wigs for kids site has a description that shows you exactly how they would like the hair collected and shipped for maximum hair usage. All I ask is that I be treated with compassion, and that I get a professional hair cut out of the deal for the next phase of my life. You get my blogpost and video of my experience, and a little bit of exposure for your business.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Zill Playing Lust Belly Dance Show at Kalia's August 22, 2010
On August 22, 2010 Hips For Hire hosts a very special Pearls of the East Belly dance show", A Mostly-Portland Pearls Show" at Kalia Indian Cuisine of Greenwood (Seattle, WA). This monthly belly dance show begins seating at 6:30 pm, with the show starting at 7:00 pm. The cover fee is $7 (tips welcome), which goes to pay for the dancers.
In Hips for Hire tradition, I may be attaching a fundraiser (more information TBA). Guests are welcome to participate through donation or gathering more information about the specific fundraiser. We encourage guests to take a moment to use Twitter and Facebook to tell others about our events, even during the event itself (we won't think you're rude if your face is looking at a screen).
This month's show information:
Featuring: JEWELS of Portland, OR (American Cabaret Bellydance)
with very special guest soloists and troupes
Kristnh (Turkish bellydance)
Najma and Znama Dance Company (belly dance fusion)
and your hostess and soloist, Imei (always a surprise)
Coming on the heels of Seattle Geek Week (see SeattleGeekWeek.com), I've invited geeks from my community to also attend our show! Please welcome these volunteers and enthusiasts, who also share a passion for technology, entertainment, food and wine, and "geeking" out! You may see guests from participating Seattle Geek Week attendees such as ChicMeetsGeek, pii2010.com, and Gnomedex.
Our guest dancer line up this month will be showing Seattle how Portland can pimp out some amazing dance! For those of you who have not seen Jewels, she has been involved in Alimah/Manon/Tamalyn's "Artist's Circle" project (2011), and really impressing me with her use of older music, new energy, and down-right technically flawless zill playing that makes the musician in me get chills of ecstasy. It's the closest thing you'll ever experience to zill-playing lust.
Paired with Mr. Kalia's spontaneous dancing (!) and his Pearls of the East dinner specials (paired with a glass of red or white wine), our Pearls shows have been impressing the community and drawing regulars.
Would you like to volunteer for this month's show? I (Imei) need one volunteer with experience with sound equipment, using a hand-held microphone, and collecting door fees,as well as walking the floor at intermission. Your door fee is compensation, plus a percentage of the door fee. Volunteer will be accepted by experience and willingness to help promote the show via Social Media channels two weeks prior to the event. If you are interested, please email me ASAP at info@hipsforhire.com.
Next month: J9 (Janine Pierce)
Hope to see you there!
Cheers!
Imei
In Hips for Hire tradition, I may be attaching a fundraiser (more information TBA). Guests are welcome to participate through donation or gathering more information about the specific fundraiser. We encourage guests to take a moment to use Twitter and Facebook to tell others about our events, even during the event itself (we won't think you're rude if your face is looking at a screen).
This month's show information:
Featuring: JEWELS of Portland, OR (American Cabaret Bellydance)
with very special guest soloists and troupes
Kristnh (Turkish bellydance)
Najma and Znama Dance Company (belly dance fusion)
and your hostess and soloist, Imei (always a surprise)
Coming on the heels of Seattle Geek Week (see SeattleGeekWeek.com), I've invited geeks from my community to also attend our show! Please welcome these volunteers and enthusiasts, who also share a passion for technology, entertainment, food and wine, and "geeking" out! You may see guests from participating Seattle Geek Week attendees such as ChicMeetsGeek, pii2010.com, and Gnomedex.
Our guest dancer line up this month will be showing Seattle how Portland can pimp out some amazing dance! For those of you who have not seen Jewels, she has been involved in Alimah/Manon/Tamalyn's "Artist's Circle" project (2011), and really impressing me with her use of older music, new energy, and down-right technically flawless zill playing that makes the musician in me get chills of ecstasy. It's the closest thing you'll ever experience to zill-playing lust.
Paired with Mr. Kalia's spontaneous dancing (!) and his Pearls of the East dinner specials (paired with a glass of red or white wine), our Pearls shows have been impressing the community and drawing regulars.
Would you like to volunteer for this month's show? I (Imei) need one volunteer with experience with sound equipment, using a hand-held microphone, and collecting door fees,as well as walking the floor at intermission. Your door fee is compensation, plus a percentage of the door fee. Volunteer will be accepted by experience and willingness to help promote the show via Social Media channels two weeks prior to the event. If you are interested, please email me ASAP at info@hipsforhire.com.
Next month: J9 (Janine Pierce)
Hope to see you there!
Cheers!
Imei
Monday, August 2, 2010
Geeks Take Over Seattle August 13-22 for Ten Days of Technology and Social Events
Seattle has enough geeks to throw their own party, not for one day, but for ten days of techie and non-techie activities.
Check out the press release, giving you the run down of all the parties, events (hey, even a golf tournament!), and venues hosting geeky events as a part of Seattle Geek Week.
Use the hashtag #SEAgw when you tweet about any of the events, and be sure to invite your friends.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Not Free? Not For Me! Turning Away In-Flight WiFi
In-flight WiFi is still a novelty to me, even though apparently 950 planes in the U.S. are equipped for it. According to Dave Freeman's post on CrunchGear (July 6, 2010), people aren't buying it (literally) for a number of reasons, including the shortness of flights, and possibly the wish of businessmen to take a break from work. Less than 10% of travelers are using the WiFi service when it is available.
Maybe someone should have studied my inbound flight. In the month of July, Alaska Airlines offered free WiFi for one leg of my journey, and I was excited to try it. In my test, I used my iPad and my Android (note: yes, this IS the phone that knows it will be sent to the land of misfit toys, so stop asking). There was no issue about not having enough workspace. I also noticed that almost every passenger around me had a smart phone or netbook of some kind, so they were also trying out the WiFi.
This first in-flight WiFi trip was the quietest trip I have ever taken. Babies were entertained. Adults were watching videos on their own devices. People were catching up with text messages and emails. There was hardly a peep for hours, except to order a drink. My neighbors didn't even get up to the use the restroom.
Contrast that with the return leg home. Alaska Airline's free WiFi program ended on July 31, and I returned after that date. Approximately five minutes of "tease" time -- free WiFi for all -- was given, and then a message came on the screen, showing you how to purchase that same service for $9.99. Not to my surprise, the flight was a noisier one filled with crying babies and cranky people. There was a definite air of restlessness among the young people around me. Due to the shortness of this portion of my itinerary, I can't imagine many people wishing to pay for WiFi after coughing up $20 for their one piece of checked luggage.
On principle, I have never believed any business should charge for WiFi if the consumer has his or her own device. I don't blink an eye at the coffee shop around the corner, who offers a free, 15 minutes of Internet service with a beverage purchase in order to use their computers. However, I would glare at them if they charged anything for use of their WiFi if you brought your own device (lucky for them, they are spared my evil eye). The purpose of offering WiFi in any business is to keep people informed, connected, entertained, educated, and/or able to purchase or sell goods at any time (i.e. to perform business on-the-go). The incentive for offering that WiFi free is for your customers to feel happy while they are experiencing one of those elements in your environment, and the hope is that a happy experience converts into future bookings.
Did I buy WiFi for my return trip? Even though this was the first return trip I have been offered WiFi, I turned it down. Instead, I played several rounds of every game Chris Pirillo has loaded onto my iPad, since flights seem to be the only time I get a chance to try them out. I also noodled around with some of the new loop sets on Looptastic HD, an app that lets you become your own iPad DJ. And my neighbor, who had just bought a Kindle, started a conversation about whether she should return the Kindle and get an iPad after she saw the resolution on an eBook I had in my virtual library. For the length of that conversation, Apple should pay me a commission, because I think I sold at least three iPads on that flight (including two to the people behind me who were eavesdropping).
Could the airlines who offer WiFi ask their customers about why they should make in-flight WiFi free? Couldn't we start something similar to Foursquare for flights, only without geo location (i.e. rewards for tweeting, flying, or completing certain routes)? Couldn't we bring some of the fun back into flying by having free WiFi and creating a win-win for all, instead of watching the once-free benefits of free luggage check-in, food, and other amenities disappear?
Let me know what you think. Unless you're that one guy who thinks only first-class passengers should be able to Tweet for free.
Maybe someone should have studied my inbound flight. In the month of July, Alaska Airlines offered free WiFi for one leg of my journey, and I was excited to try it. In my test, I used my iPad and my Android (note: yes, this IS the phone that knows it will be sent to the land of misfit toys, so stop asking). There was no issue about not having enough workspace. I also noticed that almost every passenger around me had a smart phone or netbook of some kind, so they were also trying out the WiFi.
This first in-flight WiFi trip was the quietest trip I have ever taken. Babies were entertained. Adults were watching videos on their own devices. People were catching up with text messages and emails. There was hardly a peep for hours, except to order a drink. My neighbors didn't even get up to the use the restroom.
Contrast that with the return leg home. Alaska Airline's free WiFi program ended on July 31, and I returned after that date. Approximately five minutes of "tease" time -- free WiFi for all -- was given, and then a message came on the screen, showing you how to purchase that same service for $9.99. Not to my surprise, the flight was a noisier one filled with crying babies and cranky people. There was a definite air of restlessness among the young people around me. Due to the shortness of this portion of my itinerary, I can't imagine many people wishing to pay for WiFi after coughing up $20 for their one piece of checked luggage.
On principle, I have never believed any business should charge for WiFi if the consumer has his or her own device. I don't blink an eye at the coffee shop around the corner, who offers a free, 15 minutes of Internet service with a beverage purchase in order to use their computers. However, I would glare at them if they charged anything for use of their WiFi if you brought your own device (lucky for them, they are spared my evil eye). The purpose of offering WiFi in any business is to keep people informed, connected, entertained, educated, and/or able to purchase or sell goods at any time (i.e. to perform business on-the-go). The incentive for offering that WiFi free is for your customers to feel happy while they are experiencing one of those elements in your environment, and the hope is that a happy experience converts into future bookings.
Did I buy WiFi for my return trip? Even though this was the first return trip I have been offered WiFi, I turned it down. Instead, I played several rounds of every game Chris Pirillo has loaded onto my iPad, since flights seem to be the only time I get a chance to try them out. I also noodled around with some of the new loop sets on Looptastic HD, an app that lets you become your own iPad DJ. And my neighbor, who had just bought a Kindle, started a conversation about whether she should return the Kindle and get an iPad after she saw the resolution on an eBook I had in my virtual library. For the length of that conversation, Apple should pay me a commission, because I think I sold at least three iPads on that flight (including two to the people behind me who were eavesdropping).
Could the airlines who offer WiFi ask their customers about why they should make in-flight WiFi free? Couldn't we start something similar to Foursquare for flights, only without geo location (i.e. rewards for tweeting, flying, or completing certain routes)? Couldn't we bring some of the fun back into flying by having free WiFi and creating a win-win for all, instead of watching the once-free benefits of free luggage check-in, food, and other amenities disappear?
Let me know what you think. Unless you're that one guy who thinks only first-class passengers should be able to Tweet for free.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
50 Divorce Tips for Men
I teamed up with Chris Pirillo to co-author, "50 Divorce Tips for Men", drawing from Chris' experience as a divorcee, and mine as a counselor and divorcee. We released this version for the men first, because I acknowledge that there is much less information available for men on the subject than there is for women.
We'll be releasing a similar list for women in a few weeks. In the meantime, please know that our collective desire is to present the healthiest options for self-care, proceeding through a divorce, and taking care of the kids and pets. There are plenty of other books, articles, and websites showing you how to screw your ex-spouse over and walk away a "winner", and if you want to find that information, don't read our divorce tips list.
If you are going through a divorce or know someone else who is, please read the list, share it, and let us know if it helps. Sometimes it just helps to know you're not alone when you go through something as traumatizing as divorce that you are not alone.
We'll be releasing a similar list for women in a few weeks. In the meantime, please know that our collective desire is to present the healthiest options for self-care, proceeding through a divorce, and taking care of the kids and pets. There are plenty of other books, articles, and websites showing you how to screw your ex-spouse over and walk away a "winner", and if you want to find that information, don't read our divorce tips list.
If you are going through a divorce or know someone else who is, please read the list, share it, and let us know if it helps. Sometimes it just helps to know you're not alone when you go through something as traumatizing as divorce that you are not alone.
Got iPad? Get Touchpad
With the release of Apple's Magic Trackpad, my mind has been wrapped around that oh-so-familiar question, "Should I get it? Do I want it? Do I need it? Will it make my life a little easier?"
Many years ago, I wanted to develop a foot-controlled mouse pad with a track ball on a foot board in order to alleviate the pain of a repetitive motion injury in my right wrist and elbow. Years of piano playing, layered with the use of a computer keyboard, made mouse use excruciating at times, and the injury I had was only cured by putting my entire arm in a cast and sling for 30 days. Subsequently, I've eyed the computer mouse as a necessary evil.
Recently, I've begun icing my left elbow for what appears to be a similar injury: tendonitis which radiates to the top of my hand and extends into the second digit. I don't mouse with my left hand, but I use a lot of keystrokes with the left hand that were meant to reduce the total number of keystrokes overall. The Magic Trackpad caught my interest while considering how it might further reduce the kind of keystrokes that irritate my tendonitis (i.e. pressing and clicking finger movements, versus sliding or dragging finger movements). I believe it could be a great solution for this condition, and I'm looking forward to testing my theory out on myself.
But it took me an extra twenty-four hours to generate my dumb question of the hour: if I have an iPad, isn't there an app available to turn the iPad (which also has Bluetooth and runs wirelessly) into a trackpad of sorts, as well as a controller for multiple computers? Turns out, maybe my dumb question isn't so dumb.
The first time I visited Chris Pirillo's office, he flipped out when my mouse from across the room took over his computer while he was trying to manage a document. He thought his mouse was on crack, until he realized it was I who was making his mouse scamper across his screen. We quickly reset our mice to recognize our respective computers. With more than four computers running in the office simultaneously, computer confusion among the mice happens. However, that experience left me wondering if there was a better solution for organizing the mice. I mean, are we mice or are we (wo)men?
After looking at a video about Sonosaurus Rex and Looptastic HD, I began wondering more about using the iPad as a controller, so I could roam my house with one device in hand. Chris can do that with his iPhone, but I hadn't thought about that for the iPad, which is also oh-so-portable, but with a bigger touch screen for all the things I might want to do with it.
What if you wanted one mouse/trackpad to control all your devices, like a universal remote control? What if you wanted it to control computers running Windows (with an additional recommended download) or Linux? Looks like there's been a solution all along, and the developer recently made some cool updates. Check out Touchpad for iPhone and iPad, which turns your iPad or iPhone into a controller. Now you can roam your home or office, and liberate yourself of mice and spare keyboards clutter because Touchpad uses your WiFi network. It works well for your HDTV and Mac Mini configurations, and it appears to have gotten a lot of four star (or higher) reviews.
Well, my little empire of computers is a molehill compared to Chris' empire of screens throughout his house, but whether your set up is big, small, or somewhere in the middle, Touchpad could be your $4.99 app solution on your already-spendy iPad purchase.
Apple shouldn't be disappointed I'm not racing out to get the Magic Trackpad just yet. They already got my money for an iPad and an iPhone this year. And there are plenty of people who will love the trackpad as a designated piece of hardware. I'd say there's really a win for everyone here.
Many years ago, I wanted to develop a foot-controlled mouse pad with a track ball on a foot board in order to alleviate the pain of a repetitive motion injury in my right wrist and elbow. Years of piano playing, layered with the use of a computer keyboard, made mouse use excruciating at times, and the injury I had was only cured by putting my entire arm in a cast and sling for 30 days. Subsequently, I've eyed the computer mouse as a necessary evil.
Recently, I've begun icing my left elbow for what appears to be a similar injury: tendonitis which radiates to the top of my hand and extends into the second digit. I don't mouse with my left hand, but I use a lot of keystrokes with the left hand that were meant to reduce the total number of keystrokes overall. The Magic Trackpad caught my interest while considering how it might further reduce the kind of keystrokes that irritate my tendonitis (i.e. pressing and clicking finger movements, versus sliding or dragging finger movements). I believe it could be a great solution for this condition, and I'm looking forward to testing my theory out on myself.
But it took me an extra twenty-four hours to generate my dumb question of the hour: if I have an iPad, isn't there an app available to turn the iPad (which also has Bluetooth and runs wirelessly) into a trackpad of sorts, as well as a controller for multiple computers? Turns out, maybe my dumb question isn't so dumb.
The first time I visited Chris Pirillo's office, he flipped out when my mouse from across the room took over his computer while he was trying to manage a document. He thought his mouse was on crack, until he realized it was I who was making his mouse scamper across his screen. We quickly reset our mice to recognize our respective computers. With more than four computers running in the office simultaneously, computer confusion among the mice happens. However, that experience left me wondering if there was a better solution for organizing the mice. I mean, are we mice or are we (wo)men?
After looking at a video about Sonosaurus Rex and Looptastic HD, I began wondering more about using the iPad as a controller, so I could roam my house with one device in hand. Chris can do that with his iPhone, but I hadn't thought about that for the iPad, which is also oh-so-portable, but with a bigger touch screen for all the things I might want to do with it.
What if you wanted one mouse/trackpad to control all your devices, like a universal remote control? What if you wanted it to control computers running Windows (with an additional recommended download) or Linux? Looks like there's been a solution all along, and the developer recently made some cool updates. Check out Touchpad for iPhone and iPad, which turns your iPad or iPhone into a controller. Now you can roam your home or office, and liberate yourself of mice and spare keyboards clutter because Touchpad uses your WiFi network. It works well for your HDTV and Mac Mini configurations, and it appears to have gotten a lot of four star (or higher) reviews.
Well, my little empire of computers is a molehill compared to Chris' empire of screens throughout his house, but whether your set up is big, small, or somewhere in the middle, Touchpad could be your $4.99 app solution on your already-spendy iPad purchase.
Apple shouldn't be disappointed I'm not racing out to get the Magic Trackpad just yet. They already got my money for an iPad and an iPhone this year. And there are plenty of people who will love the trackpad as a designated piece of hardware. I'd say there's really a win for everyone here.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Ready, Set, Bag! Comes To The Seattle Area
Bag It: Documentary Film “Ready, Set, Bag!
Follow on Twitter @HipsForHire
Follow on Facebook ImeiYogaDance
Pixar CTO and Independent film Executive Producer Oren Jacob’s got it in the bag, and the bag is making its way to your town.
In Jacob’s independent film, “Ready, Set, Bag!”, eight contestants train and compete to win the National Grocery Bagging Competition, and the film shows us what a serious competition it is, while raising money for meals as the film travels across the nation.
Jacob’s reached out to Chris Pirillo and the Lockergnome community because of Pirillo’s general love of food, as well as his work in Social Media circles. Pirillo knew I would snap up the chance to share with you how to feed yourself and feed others in your town.
Here’s why you should go see this movie. In a statement released by Jacobs:
We support food banks everywhere we go and we've already funded
over4,500 meals so far in a few special event screenings in the Bay
Area this past winter. Now, as we take the film out across the country,
there's the opportunity to fund 100,000 meals or even many more,
depending on how well we do. We donate 100% of all ad revenue from
www.readysetbag.blip.tv.
Ready, Set, Bag! is the first movie to sign a deal with Groupon. Seattle area people on the Groupon mailing list should receive a coupon good for two tickets and a large popcorn (plus a free reusable shopping bag), all for $16. Groupon coupons are very time-limited (released on July 25, 2010), so be sure to pick up your coupons and make plans to see the movie quickly.
One of the cool aspects of this film is how theatres and the filmmaker are collaborating to not only sell tickets, but to provide money to local food banks where the film is being shown. It’s the ultimate kind of “feel good” movie that lets you do good at the same time.
I’m equally impressed at how Jacobs is using Social Media tools such as Facebook to identify venues that support his film and his cause. Viewers of the Groupon coupon are encouraged to follow this film on Twitter and Facebook, and people’s interest about the film is growing since it was marketed earlier in the Bay Area. In Seattle, the film can be seen at Central Cinema.
In the Seattle area, I already noticed a sign at PCC announcing their bagging competition coming August 20-21, while the movie is still making the rounds in Seattle and Bellingham. Maybe you’ll be inspired to do some bagging yourself. And if you do, Jacobs wants you to take up a challenge by filming yourself. This is the one case where baggery has nothing to do with being a douche.
B. Imei Hsu, RN, MAC, LMHC is a nurse psychotherapist, dance artist, fitness instructor, and occasional guest blogger for Lockergnome. When she isn’t shopping at PCC for organic food, she’s usually up to no good (or just walking like she’s up to no good). She lives in Seattle, WA, and is impatiently waiting for her iPhone 4.
Follow on Twitter @HipsForHire
Follow on Facebook ImeiYogaDance
Pixar CTO and Independent film Executive Producer Oren Jacob’s got it in the bag, and the bag is making its way to your town.
In Jacob’s independent film, “Ready, Set, Bag!”, eight contestants train and compete to win the National Grocery Bagging Competition, and the film shows us what a serious competition it is, while raising money for meals as the film travels across the nation.
Jacob’s reached out to Chris Pirillo and the Lockergnome community because of Pirillo’s general love of food, as well as his work in Social Media circles. Pirillo knew I would snap up the chance to share with you how to feed yourself and feed others in your town.
Here’s why you should go see this movie. In a statement released by Jacobs:
We support food banks everywhere we go and we've already funded
over4,500 meals so far in a few special event screenings in the Bay
Area this past winter. Now, as we take the film out across the country,
there's the opportunity to fund 100,000 meals or even many more,
depending on how well we do. We donate 100% of all ad revenue from
www.readysetbag.blip.tv.
Ready, Set, Bag! is the first movie to sign a deal with Groupon. Seattle area people on the Groupon mailing list should receive a coupon good for two tickets and a large popcorn (plus a free reusable shopping bag), all for $16. Groupon coupons are very time-limited (released on July 25, 2010), so be sure to pick up your coupons and make plans to see the movie quickly.
One of the cool aspects of this film is how theatres and the filmmaker are collaborating to not only sell tickets, but to provide money to local food banks where the film is being shown. It’s the ultimate kind of “feel good” movie that lets you do good at the same time.
I’m equally impressed at how Jacobs is using Social Media tools such as Facebook to identify venues that support his film and his cause. Viewers of the Groupon coupon are encouraged to follow this film on Twitter and Facebook, and people’s interest about the film is growing since it was marketed earlier in the Bay Area. In Seattle, the film can be seen at Central Cinema.
In the Seattle area, I already noticed a sign at PCC announcing their bagging competition coming August 20-21, while the movie is still making the rounds in Seattle and Bellingham. Maybe you’ll be inspired to do some bagging yourself. And if you do, Jacobs wants you to take up a challenge by filming yourself. This is the one case where baggery has nothing to do with being a douche.
B. Imei Hsu, RN, MAC, LMHC is a nurse psychotherapist, dance artist, fitness instructor, and occasional guest blogger for Lockergnome. When she isn’t shopping at PCC for organic food, she’s usually up to no good (or just walking like she’s up to no good). She lives in Seattle, WA, and is impatiently waiting for her iPhone 4.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Be Your Own iPad DJ: Why I Love Looptastic
Be Your Own iPad DJ: Why I Love Looptastic
Long ago, in a galaxy far, far, away (Seattle, WA), I had a few records and a turn table. Not that I would have known what to do with Peter Frampton Live and the Sex Pistols, but I knew that without a second turn table and impeccable timing, I didn't stand half a chance at becoming even a hobbyist disc jockey. I just knew I wanted to spin the tunes.
The appeal of being a DJ may be lost on the upcoming generation. On Lockergnome.net, a question about what DJ's do for a party (since they aren't playing musical instruments) came up on the community-powered forum created by Chris Pirillo. In the thread, various replies intimated that the real worth of DJs lies in his powers to spin emotional landscapes as much as it is to spin tunes. On the heels of watching Christopher Nolan's, "Inception", I'll add to that description by saying that while musicians and singers are the prophets of this age, DJ's are the new architects of the our subconscious projections.
Many moons later, I find myself the owner of a Carvin sound system (from my former band gigging days as a singer, keyboardist, and sometimes bass player), an iPad, and a generously stocked iTunes gift card to download the latest music apps. Thanks to the iPad DJ Rana Sobhany's tip, I concur with her thumbs up of Looptastic, which allows even n00bs like me to seamlessly mix looped presets with interchangeable musical elements, such as hi hats and melody lines.
One doesn't need perfect timing, nor a steady hand. Looptastic's buttons allow you to add and subtract musical elements, yet only on the beat. Even a young child can slide the buttons up and down, or return them to a holding deck below the "score".
Once my iPad gets in proximity of Chris Pirillo's iPad, the next level of ultimate DJ'ing can be explored. Looptastic for iPad allows you to synch two iPads together, so you can run another music set simultaneously. The app also allows you to record your masterpiece, so you can reproduce to your heart's content without having to rely on recall.
Of course, I've already downloaded Groovemaker, iElectribe, and iDaft. I'll likely be testing a decent piano app, as well as something like Sonosaurus Rex for iPad (I heard the updates for the iPad make this a sick addition to what I've got already, along with the ability to save your files to iTunes for future use). Andrew and Andrew (two iPad DJ's) have a demo of Sonosaurus Rex, an iTunes app that you can download to your laptop, connect the laptop to your tuner and speakers, and use the iPad as your wireless controller interface, allowing the iPad DJ to wirelessly roam the planet - or, at least the venue floor! - spinning tunes while interacting with a crowd. I'd just make sure I had Mobile Me on the iPad, especially if you are holding a drink-i-pooh in the other hand.
I've always loved the concept of tools that even the playing field, and Looptastic HD for iPad definitely allows just about anyone with an iPad to unlock unlimited possibilities in musical architecture. I only wish I had had one of these when I was painstakingly banging out Rachmaninoff to scholarship my way through college. We don't need to settle for Bethovan's Fifth set to a disco beat. Now we can give the world Jason Moran and Billie Holiday, wrapped up in the warm cocoon of Dub-step, without rolling out the heavy equipment and wires.
As I tweeted out to my community, I think I'll dust off my old stage name and recirculate it. Please welcome Trixie Bon Bon, Seattle iPad DJ. And don't forget to follow me on Twitter, as I round the corner into the last days of my 365-1/4 days as the n00b of Social Media.
Long ago, in a galaxy far, far, away (Seattle, WA), I had a few records and a turn table. Not that I would have known what to do with Peter Frampton Live and the Sex Pistols, but I knew that without a second turn table and impeccable timing, I didn't stand half a chance at becoming even a hobbyist disc jockey. I just knew I wanted to spin the tunes.
The appeal of being a DJ may be lost on the upcoming generation. On Lockergnome.net, a question about what DJ's do for a party (since they aren't playing musical instruments) came up on the community-powered forum created by Chris Pirillo. In the thread, various replies intimated that the real worth of DJs lies in his powers to spin emotional landscapes as much as it is to spin tunes. On the heels of watching Christopher Nolan's, "Inception", I'll add to that description by saying that while musicians and singers are the prophets of this age, DJ's are the new architects of the our subconscious projections.
Many moons later, I find myself the owner of a Carvin sound system (from my former band gigging days as a singer, keyboardist, and sometimes bass player), an iPad, and a generously stocked iTunes gift card to download the latest music apps. Thanks to the iPad DJ Rana Sobhany's tip, I concur with her thumbs up of Looptastic, which allows even n00bs like me to seamlessly mix looped presets with interchangeable musical elements, such as hi hats and melody lines.
Filmed at my office on a VADO 3rd gen
One doesn't need perfect timing, nor a steady hand. Looptastic's buttons allow you to add and subtract musical elements, yet only on the beat. Even a young child can slide the buttons up and down, or return them to a holding deck below the "score".
Once my iPad gets in proximity of Chris Pirillo's iPad, the next level of ultimate DJ'ing can be explored. Looptastic for iPad allows you to synch two iPads together, so you can run another music set simultaneously. The app also allows you to record your masterpiece, so you can reproduce to your heart's content without having to rely on recall.
Of course, I've already downloaded Groovemaker, iElectribe, and iDaft. I'll likely be testing a decent piano app, as well as something like Sonosaurus Rex for iPad (I heard the updates for the iPad make this a sick addition to what I've got already, along with the ability to save your files to iTunes for future use). Andrew and Andrew (two iPad DJ's) have a demo of Sonosaurus Rex, an iTunes app that you can download to your laptop, connect the laptop to your tuner and speakers, and use the iPad as your wireless controller interface, allowing the iPad DJ to wirelessly roam the planet - or, at least the venue floor! - spinning tunes while interacting with a crowd. I'd just make sure I had Mobile Me on the iPad, especially if you are holding a drink-i-pooh in the other hand.
I've always loved the concept of tools that even the playing field, and Looptastic HD for iPad definitely allows just about anyone with an iPad to unlock unlimited possibilities in musical architecture. I only wish I had had one of these when I was painstakingly banging out Rachmaninoff to scholarship my way through college. We don't need to settle for Bethovan's Fifth set to a disco beat. Now we can give the world Jason Moran and Billie Holiday, wrapped up in the warm cocoon of Dub-step, without rolling out the heavy equipment and wires.
As I tweeted out to my community, I think I'll dust off my old stage name and recirculate it. Please welcome Trixie Bon Bon, Seattle iPad DJ. And don't forget to follow me on Twitter, as I round the corner into the last days of my 365-1/4 days as the n00b of Social Media.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Ten Years of Bellydance: Orchestrating Emotion
This summer marks my tenth year since I started belly dance. The most common question I get (besides "How do you balance that sword on your head?") is, "Why did you decide to learn belly dance?" It's a valid question, but I also know this question comes with an a certain amount of curiosity about how a Chinese girl picked up a Middle Eastern folkloric dance as a passion.
The story: in 2000, I graduated from my second Master's degree program at nearly the same time a very important relationship with a troubled man was put on hold. My own personal suffering translated into physical illness. I ate and slept so poorly, my doctor recommended that I find something more gentle to do than running and aerobics for exercise (I had lost approximately 25 pounds in two months).
Picking up a Discover U catalog for Seattle-area classes, I flipped through it, looking for "something" that seemed interesting. I didn't know I was looking for belly dance, though I had been exposed to Lebanese belly dancing while on a tour of Israel a few years earlier. One of the Discover U class offerings was belly dance with Yasmine, who I would later find out was not only a dancer but a musician as well. With a few group classes, Yasmine encouraged me to consider belly dance as "your dance"; that is, she felt that I took naturally to it. I must admit, being a musician has its advantages: zill playing was a bit easier for me than the average beginner.
Imei, celebrating 10 years of belly dance, and different styles of dance
People ask me where I get my ideas for choreography. Certainly, all of us learn from someone, and we borrow their moves as it suits us. Later, we learn to listen to the music, playing with variations of how those shapes and emotions might look when in motion and facial expressions. Finally, we create, film, observe, perform, and elicit feedback, constantly working to refine the feelings and messages we wish to send to the audience with each piece.
Sabura once wrote an email with a piece of advice I have taken to heart over the years. She reminded me that it didn't matter so much what movement I did in a choreography, as long as it perfectly expressed the emotion of the music in which it occurred. If I can get an audience feeling what I feel -- longing, joy, tension, release, breath, misery, anger, confidence, comedy -- I have accomplished no small feat.
In essence, we dancers give our viewers the unique opportunity to feel what is is to embody the music itself, yet without having to move from one's chair, nor ooze a single drop of sweat. If you find yourself holding your breath, smiling, laughing, or emitting a flirty confidence from every pore in your body, you have just understood perfectly what it is to be a belly dancer: orchestrating emotions in a waterfall of pleasure
The story: in 2000, I graduated from my second Master's degree program at nearly the same time a very important relationship with a troubled man was put on hold. My own personal suffering translated into physical illness. I ate and slept so poorly, my doctor recommended that I find something more gentle to do than running and aerobics for exercise (I had lost approximately 25 pounds in two months).
Picking up a Discover U catalog for Seattle-area classes, I flipped through it, looking for "something" that seemed interesting. I didn't know I was looking for belly dance, though I had been exposed to Lebanese belly dancing while on a tour of Israel a few years earlier. One of the Discover U class offerings was belly dance with Yasmine, who I would later find out was not only a dancer but a musician as well. With a few group classes, Yasmine encouraged me to consider belly dance as "your dance"; that is, she felt that I took naturally to it. I must admit, being a musician has its advantages: zill playing was a bit easier for me than the average beginner.
Imei, celebrating 10 years of belly dance, and different styles of dance
People ask me where I get my ideas for choreography. Certainly, all of us learn from someone, and we borrow their moves as it suits us. Later, we learn to listen to the music, playing with variations of how those shapes and emotions might look when in motion and facial expressions. Finally, we create, film, observe, perform, and elicit feedback, constantly working to refine the feelings and messages we wish to send to the audience with each piece.
Sabura once wrote an email with a piece of advice I have taken to heart over the years. She reminded me that it didn't matter so much what movement I did in a choreography, as long as it perfectly expressed the emotion of the music in which it occurred. If I can get an audience feeling what I feel -- longing, joy, tension, release, breath, misery, anger, confidence, comedy -- I have accomplished no small feat.
In essence, we dancers give our viewers the unique opportunity to feel what is is to embody the music itself, yet without having to move from one's chair, nor ooze a single drop of sweat. If you find yourself holding your breath, smiling, laughing, or emitting a flirty confidence from every pore in your body, you have just understood perfectly what it is to be a belly dancer: orchestrating emotions in a waterfall of pleasure
Belly Dance At MedFest: Why We Love This Festival
I am shocked when Seattle locals who have lived here for years are surprised to hear that one of the Northwest's largest belly dance shows occurs annually every third weekend in July in the vibrant West Seattle Community.
Over 600 dancers from California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and even Alaska register for non-stop dancing over two days on two stages for the Mediterranean Fantasy Festival, hosted by the Babylonian Ensemble. Audiences are exposed to various forms of the classic as well as emerging genres of belly dance, which include steam punk, tribal fusion, goth, martial arts, hip hop, and circus elements.
Additionally, MedFest has been open to Bollywood dance, and over the past few years, I've seen a few troupes present Indian-inspired works or full-on Bollywood pieces. This year, Mollie Singh introduced Bollywood Seattle, with excerpts of three solo choreographies as well as a group number, all choreographed by Mollie.
What I love about MedFest is how the organizers never fail to attract a high-quality workshop instructor and performer. Saturday July 17 Tito Seif of Cairo, Egypt performed on the outdoor stage (video recordings were not allowed), wowing the audience with his exciting stick dance, beledi, and dance performance while balanced on a tabla.
Tito Seif is one of the world's best male bellydancers, and an exciting choreographer. His joy is infectious, and his intensity and precision inspires dancers across the globe. In terms of the level of accomplishment this man has achieved, I was only surprised that I could not find a Wiki page about him. Bet his press team is working on that, because he is surely a "notable".
If you missed out on his workshop Saturday morning, Seif is offering another choreography workshop at 6 pm Sunday July18. For more information, go to the Babylonian Ensemble website, and click on the workshops.
Last but not least, one of my favorites is back: Shoshana of Arcata, CA. Shoshana's playful use of the four-yard veil always takes my breath away. She was the first to teach me how to use my veil like a rubber band, flicking it across the room if necessary [Added: Sunday July 18 at 1:45 pm. Shoshana had to leave early, so she performed at 12:30 pm instead of the listed time of 3 pm. Here's a few photos, taken on my Vado 3rd generation camera]:
Cocooned within a transparent, over-sized veil, Shoshana shows the audience how to spin out of a web.
Did I mention the shopping? I'm not much of a shopper, so when I do shop, it's usually in binges. This year, I purchased four dresses for $65! I wasn't in need of a new costume, but there are plenty of costume vendors ready to suit you up in gorgeous glamour, whimsical skirts, and gothic tribal wear. If you don't want to depart with any hard-earned cash, do not (I repeat, do not) go anywhere near the indoor stage area where Shiny Sparkly Things is happily liberating people of their dough. I bought a pair of earrings from SST a couple of years ago, and I'm getting great mileage out of their high-quality, costume jewelry.
Hungry? Falafel sandwiches, kabobs, and non-alcoholic beverages are vended from a conveniently placed truck and grills.
All-in-all, you and your family can spend the afternoon at MedFest in this highly entertaining, vital community of dancers, musicians, fans, and people who love world music. Come and join us if you can (just don't park on Walnut Street, or you are likely to get a parking ticket), and bring a light jacket, as it is a bit chilly for mid-July.
Over 600 dancers from California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and even Alaska register for non-stop dancing over two days on two stages for the Mediterranean Fantasy Festival, hosted by the Babylonian Ensemble. Audiences are exposed to various forms of the classic as well as emerging genres of belly dance, which include steam punk, tribal fusion, goth, martial arts, hip hop, and circus elements.
Additionally, MedFest has been open to Bollywood dance, and over the past few years, I've seen a few troupes present Indian-inspired works or full-on Bollywood pieces. This year, Mollie Singh introduced Bollywood Seattle, with excerpts of three solo choreographies as well as a group number, all choreographed by Mollie.
What I love about MedFest is how the organizers never fail to attract a high-quality workshop instructor and performer. Saturday July 17 Tito Seif of Cairo, Egypt performed on the outdoor stage (video recordings were not allowed), wowing the audience with his exciting stick dance, beledi, and dance performance while balanced on a tabla.
Tito Seif is one of the world's best male bellydancers, and an exciting choreographer. His joy is infectious, and his intensity and precision inspires dancers across the globe. In terms of the level of accomplishment this man has achieved, I was only surprised that I could not find a Wiki page about him. Bet his press team is working on that, because he is surely a "notable".
If you missed out on his workshop Saturday morning, Seif is offering another choreography workshop at 6 pm Sunday July18. For more information, go to the Babylonian Ensemble website, and click on the workshops.
Last but not least, one of my favorites is back: Shoshana of Arcata, CA. Shoshana's playful use of the four-yard veil always takes my breath away. She was the first to teach me how to use my veil like a rubber band, flicking it across the room if necessary [Added: Sunday July 18 at 1:45 pm. Shoshana had to leave early, so she performed at 12:30 pm instead of the listed time of 3 pm. Here's a few photos, taken on my Vado 3rd generation camera]:
Even with a breeze, Shoshana's control makes throwing, tossing, and flicking the veil look like liquid magic.
Letting the veil follow her slightest coaxing.
Did I mention the shopping? I'm not much of a shopper, so when I do shop, it's usually in binges. This year, I purchased four dresses for $65! I wasn't in need of a new costume, but there are plenty of costume vendors ready to suit you up in gorgeous glamour, whimsical skirts, and gothic tribal wear. If you don't want to depart with any hard-earned cash, do not (I repeat, do not) go anywhere near the indoor stage area where Shiny Sparkly Things is happily liberating people of their dough. I bought a pair of earrings from SST a couple of years ago, and I'm getting great mileage out of their high-quality, costume jewelry.
Hungry? Falafel sandwiches, kabobs, and non-alcoholic beverages are vended from a conveniently placed truck and grills.
All-in-all, you and your family can spend the afternoon at MedFest in this highly entertaining, vital community of dancers, musicians, fans, and people who love world music. Come and join us if you can (just don't park on Walnut Street, or you are likely to get a parking ticket), and bring a light jacket, as it is a bit chilly for mid-July.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
The Sh!t: To Do Or To Be
People who I consider deep thinkers have many characteristics in common, but one that fascinates me to no end is their shared experience of an unexplainable, undefinable moment. I know this already, sounds not only vague and woo-woo like, but I assure you, it isn't magic juju. The most successful, brilliant, out-of-the-box thinkers have all had "experiences" -- moments that helped them see beyond their senses -- that shaped their direction, choices, attitude, or outlook. With that shift in energy and perspective, they went on to do great things. In times of discouragement, they drew upon those experiences to give them strength to pursue their path.
For right now, I'm going to call that experience, "The Sh!t" (here, I'm using an exclamation point to symbolize the "i", turning a slang word for fecal matter into a metaphysical signifier for that uncommon, and often unrepeatable, experience). In contrast to "the shits", which refers to having repeated loose stools in rapid succession,"The Sh!t" is a welcomed phenomenon, though perhaps poorly understood.
Take a look at this video from Youtube. This is a perfect example of "The Sh!t", even if the viewer suspects the man behind the camera has ingested some magic mushrooms:
What should you do when you are facing "The Sh!t"? One of my former graduate school professors used to remind people to stop getting so worked up about "doing", and focus more on "being". I don't think he was on any mushrooms while he said this, but he would constantly point to the merits of "going with the flow", "being in the stream", "riding the wave", and other terms we commonly share for letting what's happening "do its thing" without our resistances kicking in and shutting "The Sh!t" down.
"Being" isn't an excuse for laziness. The truth of "being" includes being alive and awake to what is happening, just like the man shouting in the video, "What does it mean?" Being is an active process, not a passive one. Laziness is not active; laziness is a state of half-sleep while events happen, yet without interest or reaction from the person. The lazy person defaults to either apathy or lack of appreciation, even though the "being" person may also appear to be doing nothing on the surface. The difference is observation. Though the man behind the camera does not get an audible answer to his question, he simply stays with the moment, laughing, appreciating the beauty, sobbing, and then coming back into equanimity with "what is".
My friend Bill calls these "shifts" [though I had thought of them as epiphanies]. Shifts include energy, motivation, and attitudinal movements that occur inside of our thought processes, and maybe physically in our bodies [though perhaps we have no way to measure it except in things like heart rates and body extremity temperatures). When a shift occurs, we are freed from the stifling heat of our own wearying thoughts, fears, and paranoia.
We may find the video "Double Rainbow" funny (and that is the category it is listed under for Youtube), but I'm also caught with my own experience of "The Sh!t", and I can assure you, there were no mood-altering substances involved! When I watched "Double Rainbow", I found myself laughing at his goofy remarks, and then suddenly uncomfortable. I knew I was watching something of a very private, vulnerable moment, and one that I have experienced so many times before. One can laugh it off as a joke, or one can also grapple with the complexity of an existential moment bearing down on the shoulders of a man, and wondering how his mind didn't just snap under the pressure.
I am fairly confident for the number of "The Sh!t" moments I've had in my lifetime G-d/Life/The Universe is sure to throw me a few more of those. Will I -- and will you-- know how to "be" with "The Sh!t", or like many things we do in our tech savvy world, simply ignore it in the waterfall of unending content we see every day? Will you chuckle and chalk these kinds of experiences up to things that we make up for silly Youtube videos? Or will you open your eyes to "The Sh!t" and let it take you into Being, while taking you on a rip-roaring ride towards greater creativity and more passion for connection?
Your choice.
For those of you who couldn't get enough of the "Double Rainbow" effect, take a look at this KFC parody "The Doublelicious", also from Youtube:
For right now, I'm going to call that experience, "The Sh!t" (here, I'm using an exclamation point to symbolize the "i", turning a slang word for fecal matter into a metaphysical signifier for that uncommon, and often unrepeatable, experience). In contrast to "the shits", which refers to having repeated loose stools in rapid succession,"The Sh!t" is a welcomed phenomenon, though perhaps poorly understood.
Take a look at this video from Youtube. This is a perfect example of "The Sh!t", even if the viewer suspects the man behind the camera has ingested some magic mushrooms:
What should you do when you are facing "The Sh!t"? One of my former graduate school professors used to remind people to stop getting so worked up about "doing", and focus more on "being". I don't think he was on any mushrooms while he said this, but he would constantly point to the merits of "going with the flow", "being in the stream", "riding the wave", and other terms we commonly share for letting what's happening "do its thing" without our resistances kicking in and shutting "The Sh!t" down.
"Being" isn't an excuse for laziness. The truth of "being" includes being alive and awake to what is happening, just like the man shouting in the video, "What does it mean?" Being is an active process, not a passive one. Laziness is not active; laziness is a state of half-sleep while events happen, yet without interest or reaction from the person. The lazy person defaults to either apathy or lack of appreciation, even though the "being" person may also appear to be doing nothing on the surface. The difference is observation. Though the man behind the camera does not get an audible answer to his question, he simply stays with the moment, laughing, appreciating the beauty, sobbing, and then coming back into equanimity with "what is".
My friend Bill calls these "shifts" [though I had thought of them as epiphanies]. Shifts include energy, motivation, and attitudinal movements that occur inside of our thought processes, and maybe physically in our bodies [though perhaps we have no way to measure it except in things like heart rates and body extremity temperatures). When a shift occurs, we are freed from the stifling heat of our own wearying thoughts, fears, and paranoia.
We may find the video "Double Rainbow" funny (and that is the category it is listed under for Youtube), but I'm also caught with my own experience of "The Sh!t", and I can assure you, there were no mood-altering substances involved! When I watched "Double Rainbow", I found myself laughing at his goofy remarks, and then suddenly uncomfortable. I knew I was watching something of a very private, vulnerable moment, and one that I have experienced so many times before. One can laugh it off as a joke, or one can also grapple with the complexity of an existential moment bearing down on the shoulders of a man, and wondering how his mind didn't just snap under the pressure.
I am fairly confident for the number of "The Sh!t" moments I've had in my lifetime G-d/Life/The Universe is sure to throw me a few more of those. Will I -- and will you-- know how to "be" with "The Sh!t", or like many things we do in our tech savvy world, simply ignore it in the waterfall of unending content we see every day? Will you chuckle and chalk these kinds of experiences up to things that we make up for silly Youtube videos? Or will you open your eyes to "The Sh!t" and let it take you into Being, while taking you on a rip-roaring ride towards greater creativity and more passion for connection?
Your choice.
For those of you who couldn't get enough of the "Double Rainbow" effect, take a look at this KFC parody "The Doublelicious", also from Youtube:
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Seattle Nightlife Initiative
Mayor McGinn will sign the Seattle Nightlife Initiative on July 13, 2010 at the Century Ballroom to help stimulate a better and safer nightlife economy for Seattle, including flexible hours for serving liquor, more public transportation at night (yay!), and ways to deal with nighttime noise and nuisances.
School of Rock is scheduled to play two short sets to help us celebrate. A no-host bar reception will be held at Tin Table afterwards. Mayor McGinn had the press release added to his Twitter feed today.
Hips For Hire believes some of these changes will definitely be a boost to the nighttime economy and allow artists in the registry to pick up more gigs as the demand for quality performances increase. I hope to shake the hand of Mayor McGinn, and tell him how I hope this initiative will help performance artists make a better living -- and perform in safer venues! -- with the initiative going into effect.
If you plan to be there, it's at the Century Ballroom on Pike Street in Seattle, starting at 7 pm. We might be getting a bite to eat elsewhere (Boom Noodles, Mediterranean Express) to stay on the cheap yet yummy side of the food spectrum. Join us by looking for the girl in the black "geek" shirt.
School of Rock is scheduled to play two short sets to help us celebrate. A no-host bar reception will be held at Tin Table afterwards. Mayor McGinn had the press release added to his Twitter feed today.
Hips For Hire believes some of these changes will definitely be a boost to the nighttime economy and allow artists in the registry to pick up more gigs as the demand for quality performances increase. I hope to shake the hand of Mayor McGinn, and tell him how I hope this initiative will help performance artists make a better living -- and perform in safer venues! -- with the initiative going into effect.
If you plan to be there, it's at the Century Ballroom on Pike Street in Seattle, starting at 7 pm. We might be getting a bite to eat elsewhere (Boom Noodles, Mediterranean Express) to stay on the cheap yet yummy side of the food spectrum. Join us by looking for the girl in the black "geek" shirt.
Friday, July 9, 2010
iPad Geek Out: Merging tech and art
While the iPhone has already spawned several concerts composed of people using iPhones (such as the Michigan Mobile Phone Ensemble), I've been waiting to play around with apps for the iPad that would allow myself as a dancer and musician to explore sound and music while getting geeky with it.
After passing my iPad over to Chris Pirillo with the plea, "Pimp my apps," he loaded Beatwave, and later texted me with the message, "Grab Granimator now, it's free!" [unfortunately, it's not free any more]. You can see Chris demo the Granimator on his Youtube video.
Beatwave app for iPad got me thinking. Why not set up a repeating pattern based on a the principles of western music (we like resolution or resolved dissonance), and then express those patterns through movement and dance?
Here's a quick video demo of how that works (wait for the Picture-in-picture video at 1:17).
Filmed at home using a Vado. Bose speaker.
With Beatwave, you can adjust the reverb, speed, tone, and you have four "pages" to work with, creating solos or muting a page of notations. Better yet, non-musicians have a perfect picture of a matrix-style representation of your musical creation. Though there are other apps that allow you to create musical patterns using keyboards or hitting objects with your fingers, I like Beatwave's sense of almost random generation by trial and error, and then the ability to share what you created with friends. You don't have to be a musician to create some cool stuff.
I did not create the music before turning on the camera, nor should you have to tell a person how to move when s/he hears a note. None of this was choreographed. Imagine what I could do with six to 10 people, line up across a stage, while I, the maestro, keys in notes on Beatwave, and I assign a note to each dancer. I could layer two or more people to take on the chords layered by my choices. One could create an entirely spontaneous stage piece, with dancers following simple principles related to sounds assigned to them. It's like an Etch-a-Sketch, only for space and time, and geeky people like you and I.
If you liked what you just read, come join me on Twitter @HipsForHire, or friend me on Facebook ImeiYogaDance. Better yet, go on my Youtube channel YourLilChinaGirl, and leave me a comment.
After passing my iPad over to Chris Pirillo with the plea, "Pimp my apps," he loaded Beatwave, and later texted me with the message, "Grab Granimator now, it's free!" [unfortunately, it's not free any more]. You can see Chris demo the Granimator on his Youtube video.
Beatwave app for iPad got me thinking. Why not set up a repeating pattern based on a the principles of western music (we like resolution or resolved dissonance), and then express those patterns through movement and dance?
Here's a quick video demo of how that works (wait for the Picture-in-picture video at 1:17).
Filmed at home using a Vado. Bose speaker.
With Beatwave, you can adjust the reverb, speed, tone, and you have four "pages" to work with, creating solos or muting a page of notations. Better yet, non-musicians have a perfect picture of a matrix-style representation of your musical creation. Though there are other apps that allow you to create musical patterns using keyboards or hitting objects with your fingers, I like Beatwave's sense of almost random generation by trial and error, and then the ability to share what you created with friends. You don't have to be a musician to create some cool stuff.
I did not create the music before turning on the camera, nor should you have to tell a person how to move when s/he hears a note. None of this was choreographed. Imagine what I could do with six to 10 people, line up across a stage, while I, the maestro, keys in notes on Beatwave, and I assign a note to each dancer. I could layer two or more people to take on the chords layered by my choices. One could create an entirely spontaneous stage piece, with dancers following simple principles related to sounds assigned to them. It's like an Etch-a-Sketch, only for space and time, and geeky people like you and I.
If you liked what you just read, come join me on Twitter @HipsForHire, or friend me on Facebook ImeiYogaDance. Better yet, go on my Youtube channel YourLilChinaGirl, and leave me a comment.
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