Learning to Samba…

It’s a long story about WHY I had a free dance lesson coming to me, but I did, so I figured: what the heck?
I went to the Arthur Murray Dance studio in Silver Spring where the fantastic Jenny patiently took me under her wing.
I told her that I wanted to learn Latin dances, so we started off with the Bachata before progressing to the Samba (I’m going to Brazil in Feb) and then some Salsa.
Now, I’ve watched enough “So, You Think You Can Dance,” “Shall We Dance” (Japanese version) and “Dancing with the Stars” to be dangerous, so I had a particularly good time in adding in some extra hip movements.
Though, I have to say, I’m not giving up my day job just yet!
They put on the “soft sell” and I’m not sure if I’ll go back for more…but I did have a GREAT time.
Also, got a chance to watch some serious dancers. Here’s the video.

The NFO's Dance Performance...

Video is a bit grainy and you can't identify any individuals (so the NFO's identity remains a secret), but here's her troupe's performance from last week. HT to Mike Fox for the video.

Three Rings of Death…

You know the infamous Microsoft “Blue Screen of Death,” right?

Well, the Xbox 360 adds to that lexicon with the ignominious 3 rings of death.

I had heard of the unusually high defect rates for the Xbox 360 console, but, like anyone said: ‘that’s the kind of thing that only happens to other people.”

Wrong!

We got hit.

And, of course, I was out of warranty…or was I?

To Microsoft’s credit, they are extending warranty for 3 years from date of purchase and fixing/shipping free of charge.

No wonder they took a 1 billion dollar hit. Oops, I mean, we (I am a shareholder, full disclosure).

Worse news than not having my Xbox 360 (which doubles as my DVR) for 3 weeks.

An irritated NFO who won’t get to watch (whenever she wants) “So you think you can dance?!”

Not good for me.

Israeli Dance Marathon...

Some Jews go out to Chinese Food on Christmas Eve.


Other hardcore types, go to Moshe Shem-Tov's Israeli Dance Marathon, an annual event that lasts until 3:30am.


Yes, you read that correctly.


Moshe is the pre-eminent "Markid" of Israeli Dance in the DC area and has a weekly session on Thursday nights (for all levels) at Tikvat Israel congregation in Rockville.


It's a great time for people at all levels (Moshe is a great teacher) and the crowd is very friendly.


Normally, I am at home while the nameless one is in attendance, but the young dancing proteges, the famed duo of Paco and Tonka made an appearance, much to the crowd's delight.


Of course, they preferred the snacking to the dancing (I guess they take after me), but they had a great time.


We saw some old friends, like Mike Fox, (love the branding) and made some new ones (like Aviva Albert, who brought her coloring book)