The Fringe

Things you need to do:

Go to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival! Most of you have heard me rant and rave about the city and the festival but I really can't say enough about it. The city is visually spectacular. You can climb an old volcano, Arthur's Peak in the heart of the city and have a few of the ocean and the highlands. Or you can visit the Camera Obscura right next to the Castle and see what the city looks through the lens of an actual camera obscura. But the best part of being in Edinburgh in August is the creative energy generated by the hundreds of performers there staging hundreds of shows. And because the city is small you run into those creative people. Among the highlights was a walking version of Macbeth. Each scene was staged in a different part of the Old City. Another powerful experience was a Japanese drum troupe called Aska. Chris and I also got a kick out of the fact that we spent an hour laughing at the History of the Jacobites. The low point involved a pantless midget and a vacuum cleaner (If you can't picture what could possibly have made me gag, just drop me an email. I'd rather not go into gory detail for everybody.) www.edfringe.com can you give you more details.

Art

One of my pet peeves is a powerpoint with nothing but text on it. Words without pictures projected onto a screen is usually just a waste of technology. I've discovered a new genre that seems to have emerged from the same antipathy. It's called pecha-kucha (from the Japanese word for 'chatter"). You're expected to create a presentation which includes 20 slides displayed for 20 seconds a peice. (http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/magazine/15-09/st_pechakucha) In cities across the globe, these pecha-kucha slams are springing up which includes these new works of arts. Nothing has surfaced in Minneapolis but I did see groups in Portland ME and NYC.

Music

If you're looking for a new pop song to get lodged in your brain and replay itself endlessly, download Rihanna's "Don't Stop the Music." (Believe it or not, just typing that sentence made me hear the tune and I'm now playing it on my computer.) Tegan and Sara also have a great new CD called The Con which is worth a listen. And finally to complete my list of cool female singers is Brandi Carlisle. I love, love, love "The Story" and will play it as soon as the evil pop diva Rihanna has stopped riffing off of Michael Jackson (Yes, it is an evil pop song.")

Television

I saw that National Geographic will be airing a show called "Inside the Living Body" which has been dubbed "organ porn." Working with 200 doctors, surgeons and MRI techs as advisors, the production crew captures all kinds of internal processes such as an egg erupting from an ovary and a boy's larynx stretching during puberty. And it's all in High Definition. Yummy, eh?

What new television shows are you looking forward to this fall?

Cool Creatures

Colin Carpenter is a force of nature! If for any reason you need a jolt of pure joy, find that boy and watch others try to corral him. (I have a feeling that being the actual caretaker would mitigate the pleasure somewhat.) When I saw him last, he was in a little plastic buggy gnawing on a fresh tomato he had just plucked off one of my dad's tomato plants. He is and will be a force to be reckoned with.

In a couple of weeks I'll be going back to school (as if I haven't jumped through enough academic hoops in my life. . .) I'm getting a certification in e-learning with the aim of designing cool distance learning courses. If you come across anything that you think works especially well or that stinks, let me know. It will definitely help inspire me.