On Sunday, May 29th 2011, we will premiere what I hope will be the first of many "Lanterman Summer Whites Picnic and Ukulele Rendezvous" annual events.

This event is a bit of a departure for me. My previous productions have been characterized by structure, scheduling and organization. A certain amount of latitude was provided for creative people to be creative, but we always knew whose job it was to do what, when. That is not the case here. This event is deliberately unstructured, and is intended to be more like a party - where the guests are not passive observers but ARE the show.

This is a very nice compilation from the end of the Victorian period, which provides some choreographies for many of the most popular figure dances.

Attached are my PowerPoint slides for the presentation I gave on the basics of Drupal at the Computers in Libraries conference on March 22nd 2011 in Washington DC.

The following are some suggested Facebook groups you can join to stay better connected to the particular sorts of historical dance that interest you.

A note to my library peeps. I will be speaking at "Computers in Libraries 2011", March 21-23 at the Hilton Washington in Washington DC. I will be discussing the installation and use of the Drupal Open Source content management system.

Walter Nelson

In presenting a waltz class, it's often difficult to know what to play. A waltz recording for a class, especially a beginners' class, needs a few basic attributes.

• A clear, unambiguous beat -- especially a nice strong downbeat. Your beginners shouldn't have to search for the beat.
• A stable tempo without a lot of changes. I am not a devotee of the ballroom dance "Strict tempo" mindset, but your beginner students really need something reliable.
• A moderate tempo. With beginners, you don't want a crazy fast tempo.

The Jane Austen Evening, January 22nd 2011 in Pasadena, California.

The BBC have hit upon the novel idea of doing a historical reality show populated with people who have a passion for the period and academic knowledge that they are keen on turning into practical experience.

There seem to be two of these in this series: the Victorian Farm and the Edwardian Farm.