danny & annie

There is so much wisdom in old age, as witnessed in this video. This couple lived what I consider to be the true American Dream - a dream that does not culminate with end of life reflections about how much money you made but rather about the people you loved and the goodness you experienced. 


Also, animating the Story Corp stories is a beautiful thing. 



Danny & Annie from StoryCorps on Vimeo.



"Danny Perasa and his wife, Annie, came to StoryCorps to recount their twenty-seven-year romance. As they remember their life together from their first date to Danny’s final days with terminal cancer, these remarkable Brooklynites personify the eloquence, grace, and poetry that can be found in the voices of everyday people when we take the time to listen."

the answer? it was in me.

My world it moves so fast today

The past it seems so far away

And I squeeze it so tight, I can't breathe

And every time I try to be

What someone has thought of me

So caught up, I wasn't able to achieve.

But deep in my heart, the answer, it was in me

And I made up my mind to find my own destiny

I look at my environment

And wonder where the fire went

What happened to everything we used to be?

I hear so many cry for help

Searching outside of themselves

Now I know His strength is within me.

And deep in my heart, the answer, it was in me

And I made up my mind to find my own destiny

And deep in my heart the answer it was in me

And I made up my mind to find my own destiny

lest we forget

God of our fathers, known of old--
Lord of our far-flung battle line--
Beneath whose awful hand we hold
Dominion over palm and pine--
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget--lest we forget!

in the pocket

Its terrifying, life, through the darkness

Corinne Bailey Rae "I'd Do It All Again"

Corinne Bailey Rae |

6 days.

neil armstrong podcasts

Neil Armstrong is the best DJ. Ever. That is all.

http://www.neilarmstrongpodcast.com/

why I dance

Dance is the only art of which we ourselves are the stuff of which it is made.

--Ted Shawn, Time, 25 July 1955

I woke up a couple of days ago in the middle of the evening (thanks to my circadian rhythms being off from Europe) just in time to see the middle of "So You Think You Can Dance." I generally don't watch much TV, definitely not much reality TV, but what I have seen of SYTYCD has been impressive. The quality of the dancers and the choreography on that show is astounding - the idea of picking one as the best is silly.

I tuned in just in time for this performance as choreographed by the very talented (and very demanding - as seen on "Making the Band") Laurie Ann Gibson:

This is the perfect example of how AMAZING hip hop dance can be when done correctly. It's not all popping, locking, and gyrating. The minutely controlled isolations and emotions in every tendon of these dancers shows such power and conveys a very loud message without them having to add any dialogue. Flawless.

There was another piece I saw while watching from Emmy nominated choreographer Tyce Diorio. This is a contemporary dance to Maxwell's "This Woman's Worth" about a woman battling cancer. The dancers convey the message so well that you forget they're dancing. It had all the judges crying at the end it was so inspirational.