…or at least that is how the saying goes. I really try to be a pretty humble person, so this isn’t something I tend to write about. However, with a few recent events, I thought it was time to at least say something.

My alter ego is a professional web geek. I’ve been doing this since the birth of the web and have been around the block more than a few times. I know as well as anyone that copyright online is a sensitive issue. Snagging an image off a site here and a snippet of wording there is to be expected to a certain degree. In fact you know people are going to take and republish some content. The photos on this site are a prime example. I encourage people to take the photos and republish them. That’s why the watermark is there. It gives credit to the source and that is really what it’s all about. However, taking content in mass is where things get awkward.

Over the years, I’ve had people copy content off of our site. I’ve seen a few direct copies, some paraphrasing, and some borrowed words. Overall, nothing too major and nothing worth worrying about. Things like this may be annoying on one hand, but you can also look at it as a compliment. We must be doing something right if someone has attempted to copy something of ours. However, recently, we had an extensive amount of material from our web site magically appear in striking similarity on another site. While browsing the net, I ran across the web site of a swing dance organization from another area of the country who had large chunks of “borrowed” content on their site. Their sources included our class descriptions, private lesson descriptions, dance descriptions, beginner guide, blog/advice articles, promotions for public calendars, and even portions of our bio on the “about us” page! Much of this was word-for-word portions with only details and names changed. Some was our wording intermixed with their wording and vice-versa. I had to run this by a few friends to verify I was indeed seeing what I thought I was. How does one react to this? If it was only bits of our site combined with bits of other sites, I would have simply laughed and moved on. However, using one site as such a large portion of your “content template” goes well beyond what a webmaster would consider to be reasonable. In a sense, Dawn and I were honestly flattered by this. For someone to try to imitate us and/or our web site to this extent must mean they like what we do. In another sense, it is quite frustrating having someone “borrow” and pass-off as their own something that you spent much time and work on. Above all, to imitate solid portions of your biography just seemed plain weird.

So I emailed the owner of the site and got a call back. We had a pleasant conversation. While he agreed to the site being “similar”, he claimed that no material was copied. I tend to disagree seeing it was rather obvious that some of our content appeared on his site word-for-word. However, I digress seeing he apologized and agreed to make the site “less similar”.

At the time of publishing this, some of the site has changed to have a less copy-and-paste-ish feel and moved into more of what I would call “strikingly similar”. Other areas still have near word-for-word copies and bits of our wording is still scattered all throughout. This is still rather disappointing seeing that Plagiarism.org states that paraphrasing must do more than change a few words and keep the same sentence structure. You must phrase the ideas in your own words and even then, citing the original source is required. This is not a unique view, many educational organizations frown upon this activity; from grade schools like the elite Sayre in Lexington to higher education facilities like the University of Kentucky. I really hope and encourage the owners of the site to create some original content and wording. It seems like they have a good thing going on. I think their scene deserves something original.

While imitation may be a sincere form of flattery, it’s also so very awkward! So why bother? Why write about it? I guess it’s a combination of two factors. First, to ensure that in some way that our time, efforts, and work is credited. Second is to ensure that we continue to stand out and be recognized as individuals. I know all swing dance instructors do somewhat similar things. However, we all have unique backgrounds, strengths, and abilities. This is not only true for Dawn and I, but also for the identity of the Orlando swing dance scene in general. To copy or even paraphrase someone else’s information diminishes that individuality in the public’s eye.

So I thought I would post a followup to my previous article about the new Indiana Jones movie. I admit, I saw the movie on opening weekend… I told you I was a sucker for an Indiana Jones movie… but I did avoid seeing it on the first opening nights so I guess I did win one battle. So after being a big skeptic of the concept of making a new Indiana Jones movie so many years after the last, what did I think? Well, let me first preface this with a warning… if you read on, there may be spoilers.

I guess most of the die hard fans have already seen the movie by now and formulated their opinions. If you are a fan and you haven’t seen the movie yet, let me first say that there is one spoiler that you may want to hear before going to see the movie… the story is about aliens. That’s right, it’s Indiana Jones meets Close Encounters of the Third Kind. As a fan, this is a tough pill to swallow. I knew this ahead of time and had time to warm up to the concept. However, that being said, the story handles this concept rather well for most of the movie and blends it well into typical Indiana Jones style archeology.

Harrison Ford returns to the role without missing a beat. Once again, the character lives up to the previous movies and Ford plays the role flawlessly. Was he too old? Not at all. In fact, the storyline handles the additional twenty years nicely and makes light of the additional years. He still pulls off all the action scenes with an additional sense of wisdom. Contrary to what many may say, Shia LaBeauf does an excellent job as the sidekick “Mutt” and Karen Allen has a nice return. All of the characters were handled quite well with the exception of Kate Blanchett’s villain role as Irina Spalko. Her character lacked depth and didn’t really give you the “fear the bad guy” impression the villains of previous movies did. However, this appears to be more the fault of the writing than any reflection on the actress.

This brings us to the story. Overall, the story was good… however, you expect “great” (or above) from an Indiana Jones movie. It wasn’t for lack of action. In fact the action was more over the top in the movie than any of the previous three. It’s suppose to be unbelievable, but not suppose to make you say “oh, come on!”. The real root of the problem seems to be the battle between Lucas and Spielberg over the storyline. There were many drafts of the script due to disagreements and the resulting work was a merge of them. To put it simply, it shows. Lucas has really lost his touch over the years. You could clearly see George’s influence on certain scenes in the movie; from the animated prairie dogs that hearken back to the silly cartoon-ish characters in the Star Wars prequels to the absolutely ridiculous monkey and vine swinging scene that should have been left on a cutting room floor. I think we have Spielberg to thank for not letting this movie go the way of Episodes 1-3. Sound harsh? It’s probably because certain scenes stick out like a sore thumb as clearly not belonging. However, as soon as you start to get annoyed, Indy belts out a classic one liner and you put it behind you and move on. The story starts out strong, has it’s choppy moments, and ends on the weaker side. In fact, I thought the ending was more of a tie-in for Close Encounters than the type of ending you’ve come to expect from the series. However, it does wrap up the characters rather well… in fact, it alludes to the possibility of passing the famed fedora on to a new generation… a concept that I’m sure leaves many of us long time fans saying “Oh, please God, NO!”.

Overall, it is a good movie, but not a great movie. It lives up to the name Indiana Jones, but at moments will make you wonder. While it is the weakest of the now four movies, it does rank up there with them and will find itself right next to the others on the DVD shelf.

Okay, time to stray off topic for a minute. I’m a big Indiana Jones fan… have been for many years. It could be that the movies gave me my fascination for the time period that eventually lead to me getting into swing dancing… but I’ll leave that for a shrink to figure out one day. Anyways, I’ve known that a new movie has been in the works for a long time. In fact it’s been in the works for a very long time. Back in the 90’s, I was very excited about the prospect of another Indy movie, however, by the time the movie was officially announced, the excitement had been replaced with skepticism than it could still be pulled off this long after the last. Well, the official trailer has finally been released. Seems the news media (or paid media promotion?) is reporting that everyone loves the trailer and is saying “The (only) negative comment from people was that they have to wait until May to see the movie”. I don’t know if I’d agree with that statement.

My initial  reaction to the trailer as a fan is that it’s “okay”. The trailer looks to play up the nostalgia of the old films more than it promotes the new one. A large chunk of the trailer’s time is dedicated to flashbacks from the previous three films. This seems to be Hollywood’s trick these days; promote nostalgia of great old stories while serving up new garbage (*cough* Star Wars prequels *cough*). Put into perspective with other sequels, prequels, and remakes, it started to make me sad that they actually made another Indy movie. I think even the new generation knows who Indiana Jones is so I don’t think a rehash is needed. Anyways, the scenes from the new movie look okay. They appear to stay true to the character, and Harrison Ford’s love of the role seems to shine through once again. However, the action sequences seem strikingly similar to action sequences we’ve already seen in the previous films. Could it be that the concept has been worn out already? I’d like to think it hasn’t, but these scenes do look really familiar. Overall, it looks more like you are going to sit and dust off a photo album with your cool old uncle while he once again regales you about his old adventures rather than actually going on a new adventure with him. The trailer makes me want to watch the original movies (and the Young Indy series) again rather than wanting to go see the new movie. Will I go see the new movie? Sure I will! I’m a sucker for an Indiana Jones movie! But I don’t know if I will be there opening weekend.

Will an AARP card carrying Indiana Jones still kick butt? I’m sure he will. Oh… and stay off his lawn!

I just wanted to do a quick follow up and say thank you to everyone who came out to Beardall last night! After being really slow night last month, it was really good to see so many people from the swing scene out supporting the community based event. It was a great dance night and the band really appreciated playing for the crowd! Hope to see everyone back next month!

Mike Feher wrote us to tell us that PBS is running a special on the zoot suit riots that happened in Los Angeles in the early 1940’s. The PBS web site has a really good online presentation about the “zoot culture”. I think this is an area of history that is greatly misunderstood in the mainstream today. Mention the term nowadays and most people conjure up stereotyped images of swing dancing. In reality, there is a lot more to it than that and the suit stood for much more. Some zoot suiters danced, some didn’t. Some jitterbugs wore zoots (or more toned-down spin-off styles), and some didn’t. The web site has some interesting interviews with former zoot suiters about the love of big band music, dancing, and nightlife. It even has a short bit on the zoot suiters own spin on the jitterbug… the “pachuco hop”.

Thanks for the link Mike!

On the 4th Wednesday of every month, the Orlando Swing Band plays at the Beardall Center. The band is a full size, community based, swing orchestra that plays for the public every month for… wait for it… only $4 per person admission! I don’t know of any other place around where you can dance to a big band for such a low rate. How do they do it? Again, they are community based. In exchange for practice space at the city owned facility, they offer a monthly public dance. However, attendance at these dances have been pretty rocky over the years. I think it is high time to revitalize it!

I think a little background is in order. The Beardall Center is a historic 1920’s era school building located in downtown Orlando. That’s right, I said history in Orlando… and even more shocking, it has a large parquet wood dance floor. So with a live big band and a vintage venue, it seems we have all the makings for a great swing dance night, right? Well, almost. While once a school building, Beardall is now a senior community center. This tends to shy people away. But you have to realize, it is a “community center” and it has absolutely nothing to do with assisted living. Granted, the crowd there has traditionally been older, but they are always friendly and welcoming. After Dawn and I discovered the night years ago we put the word out to the swing dancers. Since then, the 4th Wednesday dances have had mixed ages varying month to month. The band traditionally catered the older crowd playing both a mix of swing and ballroom. However, we’ve been told by the band several times that they would cater to the swing dancers more if more came out. For a number of reasons, it’s been difficult to get constant attendance at Beardall from the swing crowd over the years.

In the past few months, we’ve seen a significant decline in attendance from both the swing scene and the older patrons at the 4th Wednesday dance. There could be many reasons for this… vacations, off season for snowbirds, etc. What I can say is that last month was the slowest night I’ve ever seen there. Outside of the 7 or 8 swing dancers in our crowd, and the band, there were only 3 other people in the room. One was a friend of a band member and the others there to watch. In the second set, the band played solid swing. The small group of us danced and had a great time!

I’ve always felt that this night has a lot of potential. With other local swing dances booming, let’s get this community dance night back on track! The next dance is on August 22nd (7:30 to 10pm - directions). Come out and dance and hang out! Pass the word along and tell your friends! We’ll be there with a group of dancers so there is sure to be people to dance with.

If you were in Orlando in the early 1940’s and wanted to dance to the big band sounds, the place to go was The Esplanade. This outdoor venue was located at the Army Air Force Base (which later became the Naval Training Center and is now Baldwin Park). The Thursday night “wolf dance” occasionally featured known acts such as Bob Hope and Sammy Kaye. From what we understand, the concrete dance floor (originally painted with Air Force symbols, and later repainted to reflect Navy ownership) still exists today.

The other day, I heard that the old Daytona Bowl and River Deck restaurant was torn down. Back in the day (I sound so old when I say that), this was a staple swing dance night for the Daytona scene. Dawn and I danced out there many times. It was a cool place. It had a parquet wood dance floor with windows that overlooked the Halifax river (neat effect), a lounge that offered food and drink, and was directly connected to the bowling alley. Sure, the dance floor was sticky, but overall it was a nice place to dance and hang out. While swing nights there ended a long time ago, it’s still sad to see the venue go.

So what’s to become of it? You guessed it! Condos!

We’re often asked about the limited dance venues in Central Florida. This is a prime example of what happens to them. I applaud the Tampa Bay area for preserving their old dance floors and places to dance. Orlando seems more fixated on new growth. Did you know that Orlando once had a Coliseum like the one in St. Pete? It burned down in the 60’s and the city chose not to rebuild it. Other dance floors have made way for new development. What’s left often competes for wedding bookings (a process that drives prices out of the reach of dancers).

Not saying River Deck was a great dance hall by any means. But there is now one less dance floor in Central Florida and one more “multi-family development site”.

Not exactly swing, but I thought this was pretty amusing. It seems school officials in China have reinvented the waltz to curb cases of puppy love and to improve grades. “The revised dance steps allow students to dance by themselves or in large groups”. I can’t wait to see what they have come up with! Something tells me that China is now prime for a swing dance revolution.

Our friend Erin has started a campaign to get Whirl & Twirl voted as the “Best Dance Club” in the Orlando Weekly’s Best of Orlando contest:

http://www.orlandoweekly.com/bestof/SARegistration.asp

It’s a long shot, but we can always hope! It would be significant… and possibly a sign of the times… if a traditional dance hall like Whirl & Twirl even made it on the radar screen with the downtown nightclubs. Kinda hilarious actually.

So drop by the Orlando Weekly site and cast a vote for “Whirl & Twirl” in the “Best dance club” box!

Also, don’t forget about your favorite local swing band for the “Best jazz act”.

Spread the word and cast a vote! Thanks!