May 3, 2007
Among the many things that make me happy in life: Mojitos, People Magazine (especially the double issues), unicorns, ponies, malt liquor and dancing! And what makes dancing super fun? When it's done to a DJ-Disco-Funk song featuring a children's choir.
It's called "D.A.N.C.E." by Justice (two French dudesgentlemen). They just played Coachella last weekend. Check out the video and make sure to turn this up real loud.
this video is everywhere!
Emily -- it's everywhere because it's awesome. It's also number 6 on the Viral Video Chart. We can't stop watching it. It's like that "1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12 " video from Sesame Street.
even at 50yrs old, I wanna do the DANCE!
Okay, yeah, the video's cool and all. But I have to admit, so far I'm titanically disappointed with BPP.
I'm 27 years old, and I do news for an NPR station, so maybe I totally biased. But I was really hoping that this program would shape up to be a little more newsy than what I can get, oh, I dunno, EVERYWHERE ELSE ONLINE. Yes, you weighed in on George Tenet and on Virginia Tech, but essentially you asked us how you should cover it. You even said that you "didn't have that much to add to the conversation" about the V-Tech massacre.
Well then, why the hell should I listen to you? If you've nothing to say, then don't say anything!
There are plenty of angles to that story that no one seems to want to discuss: namely, the bullying angle. That young man who killed all those people was reportedly bullied mercilessly for being quirky and different. No, that doesn't excuse what he did, but YES, it repeats a clear pattern of young disenfranchised men giving up on life and taking out their anger on the innocent.
How plugged in to young America are you really, if you couldn't think of that?
BPP is on, reporting, right now. You're not launching, you're not experimenting: WE CAN SEE YOU. And that means, you exist. You're already starting to make an impression, and I think you're making a crappy one so far. Just look at the list of stuff on the "Interweb" that you like; a good chunk of those links are to gossip sites and time-wasters! WTF? Is this what NPR thinks I need in the morning, given all the stuff I've got to do before work? I don't have time for gossip, or for viral stupidity that my friends will send me anyway.
Here's a crazy idea: do some news. Do stories that younger adults will REALLY CARE ABOUT. Where's your coverage on the student loan scandal? Not even a mention of it on your blog, and I've been hoping you'd key into that, but you didn't. You're so busy trying to be hip, you don't think to be RELEVANT. Where's your mention of the congressional report on abstinence education being ineffective? That's certainly relevant to anyone with a high school-aged relative, especially since young attitudes on sexuality are changing and the congressional funding is up for a vote in the next few months.
What about that new report from the University of Chicago about the attitudes of African-American youth on life? Very interesting, and illuminates some things that people thought they knew about young Black folk like me. (BTW, that's at http://blackyouthproject.uchicago.edu) And what about finding ways to take big national stories that everyone's talking about, and make them play to a younger audience? Iraq is, after all, a war being fought by the young and run by the old.
Sorry to unleash on you all at once, but I've been stifling this for as long as I could stand it. I love NPR - this is my second job in public broadcasting, after working in commercial television - and I think BPP has loads of potential. I've stopped watching TV in the mornings cuz' it's just unbearable (and I mean the local and national shows!). NPR stands for something wonderful and admirable, and young people will respond to it if it's done right.
But if NPR would rather try to be my buddy than give me the information I need to know, I don't have time for it. Personally, I don't need any more buddies. I need people that I can trust to speak my language and respect the issues that genuinely affect me.
To this day I still don't know anyone like that.
Then you'll be happy to know I'm wearing a t-shirt with a unicorn on it. Unfortunately, it's fallen off Noah's Ark and I don't think it's going to make it to the lifeboats.
I think we need an official B-Dub Dance Break each Friday. Let's say 11am, Jay's office. You first.
touche, joshua!
I'm wondering if that was some of the crap I heard while Rage was between songs. Don't get me wrong, I do indeed adore one dance song: Girl By the Sea. I just enjoy headbanging to dancing. It's probably because I can't dance and won't dance.
Just about the most original video I've seen in a long time! Enjoyed!
pretty cool. I love this kind of thing.
KOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IVE HEARD OF IT THOUGH THAUGHT IT WAS CLASS
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