Palin: Folksy Maverick

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSdFIDygFwM

File Under: People With Whom I Would Love to Share a Meal

Please watch this until the end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jx-ualuq45E

Vacation Days: Dresden Dolls and Patriots

I am one to be vacation-sick, i.e. after my requisite 72 hours in my purple robe I grow impatient with laziness and long for a Project. Anything to regain a sense of purpose, even it must be back to the nine-to-five. This year, however, vacation has been refreshingly sweet. The key is to try new things. . .

Saturday we lazed around the house all day pajama-clad. Leftovers were warmed in our new microwave, a high point of the day. Finally about seven we bathed and dressed for our night on the town: a concert at the Orpheum theater in downtown Boston. I prepped the family by downloading two CDs and playing them throughout the day. The band: the Dresden Dolls.

I have to admit, the more I read about the Dresden Dolls and their opening acts, the less sure I was that our twelve-year-old sidekick was ready for the experience of seeing them live in concert. Yet. Going to a concert with your parental types can only be a good thing in terms of nullifying any allure of the less than savory aspects of an "alternative" culture--it renders nose rings uncool if your adults give tacit consent by attending a concert with the same crowd. Our tyke (whose shoes are too big for me and I am not a delicately shod woman) donned his Notre Dame cap instead of any secondary metal.

We missed the first opening act, Meow Meow, mostly by design. A twelve-year-old can only take so much and I bargained that were better off missing the first installment of the evening. You can read about the act in the Boston Globe article "Here, kitty kitty." We did hear the second opening act, a band from Brooklyn, NY called the Luminescent Orchestrii. They were surprisingly good. They opened with a Romanian gypsy-ish song, much to our delight. They played music from all kinds of traditions--French, Bulgarian, Yiddish--but added their own twists. Very fun.

The twelve-year-old was showing signs of concert fatigue by the end of the Luminescent Orchestrii's set. It should be noted that he was keenly aware that the Patriots were playing the Giants in an attempt to complete a perfect season. As we are partly to blame (mostly to blame?) for fostering a love of the Fighting Irish which has morphed into a Patriot's passion, we felt his pain. The concert was LOUD and slightly BORING knowing that THE game was in progress.

We all perked up when the Dresden Dolls took the stage. They are musicians and performers. It was a show to say the least. L. and I could have stayed through till the end, but round about 10 pm the new experience threshold for the tyke crested. Luckily we got to hear "Coin-Operated Boy" before we had to make a mad dash for a cab and home in time for the fourth quarter. We happily watched Tom Brady lead the Patriots from behind to win and thus complete a 16 - 0 season. Revitalized by the Dresden Dolls and thrilled by the Patriots. A good night.

View the video for "Coin-Operated Boy":

Read the Boston Globe's Review of the Dresden Doll's Performance:
Theater is fitting for dramatic art of Dresden Dolls

A sample from the Luminescent Orchestrii's work (available on their website):
http://www.lumii.org/mp3/Luminescent_Orchestrii_-_Taraf_Hijacked_192k.mp3
If you go to the website, you will see that palinka has fueled their inspiration. . .

Saint Mary's College Women's Choir: Amazing Grace

The Saint Mary's College Women's Choir is recognized as one of the finest collegiate women's ensembles in the country. They have just released their 4th CD of new music for women's voices on the ProOrganolabel. Here they perform Ron Jeffers' arrangement of "Amazing Grace."

Saint Mary's is my alma mater. The choir, of which I was a fan and not a participant, submitted the above video as part of the Clash of the Choirs television contest. View the site at http://my.nbc.com/groups/videos/clash-of-the-choirs?videoID=676468

One Laptop Per Child

Check out this video report by New York Time's David Pouge:

http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=6ffd976ed367bacae4171dd4999d36431c84b0f5

Video: Notre Dame--Get Fired Up for the Season

Thanks to Dave for passing this along. Twenty minutes to wake up the echoes.....

http://mfile.akamai.com/26783/wmv/cstvcbs.download.akamai.com/8108/open/nd/07-08/video/m-footbl/08aug/083007_m-footbl_primer_hi.asx

Swan Lake

A scene from a Chinese version of "Swan Lake," by the Guangdong Military Acrobatic Troupe, featuring Wu Zhengdan and Wei Baohua.

An amazing 48 seconds.

http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=3f5112778b7fa7051ee5b20dd6b0aecb7164037f

Malcolm Gladwell: What we can learn from spaghetti sauce

Brains Behind Talent

Check out the link below that takes you to a short video detailing the brain science behind talent. In this case, the discussion focuses on athletic talent. I am convinced (with no scientific evidence, but nontheless) that it applies to other kinds of learning.

Neuroscientist Doug Fields explains how neural membranes function in developing athletic skills:

http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=4a86810a4af95d30fc40c55377f7fe6cdea9167d

(I tried to embed this video but couldn't figure out how to lift it from the Times.)

Gypsy Wedding Music

Something to warm you up this February:

A gypsy wedding celebration where the groom has to down a few gallons of palinka (homemade liquor) at the end. (They sing in Hungarian.)

A Few Laughs

Borat Bandwagon

Jump on the Borat Bandwagon.

York Times Review, November 3, 2006

NPR Review

The Unofficial Borat Homepage

What is Beauty?

You may have seen the ads for Dove's campaignforrealbeauty with real women showing off their non-model bodies--illicit curves, bold wrinkles, and plains as God so created them.

What is real beauty? And who gets to decide?

Damn. What a good ad campaign. I wonder if it will actually sell more Dove products? Who cares?

This video is short (less than a minute) but strikes a nerve.

Here is the video link:

http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.com/home_films_evolution_v2.swf

Welcome to Write Now

Click here for a message from Write Now's Press Agent.

Video: Joss Whedon and Strong Female Characters

Ms. J. sent me a link to this video ages ago. Just this morning I found a mere eight minutes of free time (while I sipped my morning coffee) to view it. It was well worth my time! Thanks Ms J.!

Before I saw this clip, I didn't know Joss Whedon, but many of you may recognize him as the writer of Buffy the Vampire Slayer--a cult hit to say the least.

In this May, 2006 clip Meryl Streep presents him with an award on behalf of Equality Now to honor his creation of many strong female characters.

In case the video doesn't work, here is the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYaczoJMRhs

Mrs. World Fiasco

The following horrible real life drama is almost too painful to watch. Mrs. DF sent me the note below and the link to a video. Please read first and then view the fiasco.
Ouch.
It makes me feel both sad for the women involved and grateful for my far less dramatic (and less public) life.

********************************************************************************

at the 2006 miss world pageant in russia---did you hear what happened?

they were down to the last 2 girls, miss russia and miss costa rica and neither spoke english . . . nor did most of the audience

so allan thicke is the host and he has some woman helping him who barely speaks english and you know how they usually tell you the first runner up . . . and then the camera goes to the winner and they all celebrate?

well allan says "the runner up is miss costa rica!" and there's a cheer and then you can kinda hear him say "the winner is miss russia" but the celebrations have begun and the woman helping him puts the miss world sash on miss costa rica.

girls come running down to congratulate those that speak english look confused a little girl dressed as an angel is lowered from the ceiling with the crown and they put it on miss costa rica.

allan walks off the stage, the producer is furious and yells at the helper woman.

so now they have to do something, right?

so the go back out and tell everyone the mistake---miss costa rica is dethroned, she's bawling, many of the other contestants are furious and storm off. . . .

and they replay the WHOLE thing there are only about 10 or 12 women left on stage miss costa rica i think is still there crying and they say "the winner is miss russia!"

the angel comes back down, . . . etc. etc

*******************************************************************************

Now view the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TJ_UKt4QtQ