Just one question, “Have you been naughty or nice?”

In the meantime, these are my favorite things ever.

The Gillick work that is up at the MCA has got me thinking a lot about where we encounter music and just how much we engage with it. Music is so prolific in some spaces (like restaurants, coffee shops, and stores) that we hardly notice it enough to even appreciate it. On the other hand, when we encounter music in unexpected places (like a museum) we have a different engagement with it-we are automatically more turned on by it and tuned in to it.

Today for example, I encountered a man fiddling around with a finger harp while waiting for the red line. It was disarmingly lovely.

Here are a couple other disarmingly lovely things I have encountered recently regarding music. Enjoy.

Just incredible.  I want to play it so badly!

(who knew Philip Glass wrote music for Sesame Street?!)

P.S. Speaking of music, did you download the song for the next guerrilla dance party yet?

Trailerpilot posted this NY Times article to his blog this weekend and I’m so glad he did…it’s incredibly interesting to me. The article is about a fairly new dance craze that is spreading via the internet to teens all over the country-jerking. It’s not the dance style that interested me. Instead, what peaked my interest in this case can be summed up in this quote from the article:

They began dancing and posted videos on YouTube, and according the mysterious Web laws that can send a laughing baby video global, these unknowns quickly attracted thousands of viewers.

At this point in fact, the videos from the high school students from LA which this quote refers to have received millions of views….and consequently an article in the NY Times, sponsorship from clothing/footwear brands, and a documentary for MTV in the works.

I’m sure we’ve all had the experience of watching some link we got in a forward (or saw in a tweet or on someone’s tumblr) and we OMGLOL at it (because that’s it’s purpose) and then we scroll down and see it’s had millions of views and countless comments….and we think “WTF?  Why?”

It seems to me that while there are unimaginable numbers of people using the internet to post, share, and spread information, there are only a few users who really have the power to make something become viral.  What is interesting to me in regards to this (and these kids who are now responsible for this next big dance movement) is that these gods of the internet are now the ones curating our cultural lives*.  They are the ones deciding that jerking is the next big thing and three wolf moon shirts are the new standard of irony based ROFL-ing and cats doing much of anything are the funnest thing ever.

Truthfully, I can’t decide how I feel about this.  Part of me loves the way we all watch the same ridiculous pixelated crap…it bonds us.  The other part of me wishes maybe we were all watching the same creative, groundbreaking or thoughtful stuff that’s out there.

But since I’m not one of those internet gods, it actually doesn’t really matter what I want us to watch.  So instead, I watch this.

*Note that I am officially waiting to see how long it will take before work at the MCA starts reflecting this cultural phenomenon.

While I love a good Nutcracker (and Chicago is home to a really lovely one by the Joffrey) I would like to officially encourage you all to try a new holiday tradition-GO SEE REDMOON’S WINTER PAGEANT.  This show is incredibly charming, engaging, and approachable for all ages and celebrates Chicagoans in their trek through a long winter and ultimate celebration in spring.  It is hilarious and thoughtful and just an overall warm and fuzzy thing (it’s also incredibly affordable for a night of theater!)  Take my advice and go be part of the 20 year long Chicago tradition-you’ll be adding it to your holiday list of traditions for sure.

Redmoon Theater’s Winter Pageant runs Nov. 20 – Dec. 27 (no shows Nov. 26, Dec. 24 & 25) | Thursdays & Fridays at 7:30pm, Saturdays and Sundays at 4:00 & 7:30pm | Redmoon Central, 1463 W. Hubbard Street, Chicago | BUY TICKETS HERE

Until then….HAPPY 2010!

The holiday season is upon us and while some folks live for the never ending carols, crowds on Michigan Ave. and extra pounds put on thanks to Trader Joes’ seasonal items…the holidays simply aren’t for everyone.

Luckily, some friends of mine from back home wrote this song last year for the rest of us and in honor of all things humbug, we’ll be rocking out to it this month.

Here’s how you can join in and dance out all that holiday rage:

1. Download It’s Christmas, What’s the Difference by The Films. You can find it here on iTunes

2. Map the location: On Michigan Ave. in front of the McCormick-Tribune Ice Skating Rink

3. Show up on DECEMBER 12, 2009 @ Noon sharp (yep…12/12 @ 12:00), push play and watch those holiday pounds melt away as you dance your little heart (two sizes too small of course) silly.

DanceNOWChicago: Third Dance
Song: Dancing in the Streets/David Bowie & Mick Jagger
City: Chicago, IL
Location: Intersection of State St. and Lake St.

I’d like to give a special nod to the young lady in pink twirling across the street at the end.  You work it girl!

If this looks like fun (which of course it was!) then get up and join us next time! Be among the first to hear about new guerrilla dance party missions by joining our email list and following us on Twitter.

This Wednesday, as you stand on the Southwest corner of State and Lake with your iPod in hand (cued up to “Dancing in the Streets” as covered by David Bowie and Mick Jagger), properly warmed up and ready to grove, remember what brought you there: Curiosity? Yes. A love of Bowie? Probably. But most of all, it is a love of dancing and making others go, “Hm, what’s going on here?”

6:45pm, push play, look both ways….and DANCE, Chicago.