After a highly successful first run at Lollapalooza, and most recently a stop at the Virgin Music Festival, the Dell Summer Rocks Tour and Dell Dome head out west to the first ever Outside Lands Festival.  The festival runs Aug. 22-24 in San Francisco at the world-famous Golden Gate Park.

With two festivals now behind us, we have collected quite a few videos and pictures from the events.  Come check out the action from the festivals and within the Dell Dome via the following links:

• Lollapalooza
• Virgin Music Festival

Regular tour updates will of course be posted on the Dell Summer Rocks Web site, however there is now an even easier way to stay on top of the action!

Introducing the Dell Summer Rocks Widget:

Content from events will be dynamically uploaded to the widget during the festival, so make sure to add this widget to your blog, social networking and/or iGoogle home page.  Share with your friends and family, then stay tuned in as the tour continues to rock across the country!

For several weeks, I’ve been looking for a good program to help me get a handle on my extensive book and music collection, and I ran across itaggit.

It’s a free online service that lets you organize whatever you collect and add photos and other pertinent items to the records.  One of the things I like best about it is that I don’t have to enter each item myself.  For books and records, you can search Amazon using the author, artist or title and when you select it from a list, it imports all the publisher’s information so you just click on it and you have a complete record of the item.

Itaggit also tallies the purchase price (retail) so you have a running total of how much your collection would cost to replace. A feature I haven’t used yet is the ability to post an item to eBay, Facebook, Craigslist or other leading Web sites. I have suggested that my husband put some of his collections on itaggit so he can easily upload items to eBay to sell.

There‘s even a blog feature so you can write about your collection and share information with other members of the itaggit community. In one evening, I entered several hundred items.  It’s really a great tool and you can’t beat the price.

Lollapalooza has come and gone. However, memories of the event and the Dell Dome are still fresh in the minds of all who experienced it.  I know I’m not speaking only for myself when I say that next year’s event cannot come quickly enough.  So if you were fortunate enough to attend Lollapalooza this year and want to reminisce or, if you just want to see some of the action from the event, check out the updated Dell Summer Rocks Lollapalooza page which features band interviews and action photos within the Dell Dome.

USA Today’s Pop Candy has a nice recap of the event including a blurb about our resident artist Mike Ming, whose work can be found not only in the Dell Summer Rocks Tour Dome, but on our customized Dell 1525 laptop computers as well.  Summer is full of colors, and Designed for Dell has all the customized features one would want to make your personal laptop or desktop computer as colorful as you are.  Make sure you check out the latest offerings from Dell and pick one up that fits your style and needs.

If you have pictures from the Dell Dome at Lollapalooza and want to share the love with friends and others with Flickr, please make sure to tag your photos with “DellSummerRocks” and upload your pictures today.  I’ve already uploaded some of my shots and will continue to add more as the Dell Summer Rocks Tour continues.

It was the last day of the Lollapalooza festival and the weather was again beautiful.  Everyone arrived a bit late and many were bruised and sore from the incredible “Rage Against The Machine” set on Saturday night.  The performance itself was everything a fan could imagined, however the set didn’t end without incident as many in the crowd and those close to the stage got caught up in the excitement.  Check out the in-depth article from Jim DeRogatis titled Raging during the Rage set if you are interested in more details.

I still can’t get over the number of people that visited the Dell Dome.  Early in the event, one emcee rocked the dome, but by Sunday afternoon we saw two emcees calling out activities and encouraging folks to come inside.

Hanging out around the dome

Mike Ming was feverishly working on his mural and putting the finishing touches up before the event ended.  Mike is definitely as cool and interesting as his artwork, and I felt fortunate for having had a chance to chat with him a bit during the event.

Playing Ping Pong while Mike Ming paints

While I expected to see a “younger” crowd at event, I was bit surprised at how many kids and toddlers attended . I even spotted a few babies in strollers.  And from what I can tell, many of the youngsters were having just as much fun, if not more, than the parents and older crowd during the shows.  In fact, the organizers did an amazing job at bringing kid-oriented artists and activities to the event.  Check out Kidzapalooza for a peek at the lineup that was available.

Kids get involved in the fun

Sunday night had another packed lineup as Blues Traveler, Gnarls Barkley and NIN were scheduled.  Not to mention one of the hometown heroes of Chicago, Kanye West himself would hit the stage.

The Dell Dome and the Lollapalooza festival were a huge success.  I’ll recap the entire festival later this week with more photos and possibly some video.

I know … You might be thinking where is Part 2 of Day 1 at Lollapalooza 2008?  Well, unfortunately, my photos from the Dell AfterParty last night didn’t come out due to the darkness of the club.  We also had a little technical difficulty as Does It Offend You? Yeah had their luggage lost on the flight in.  As a result, they were limited to playing a smaller DJ set for the performance.  However, that didn’t stop the action as The Gutter Twins hit the stage at 12:30 to an enthusiastic crowd.

On to Saturday:  The oppressive heat experienced in Chicago on Friday is now a thing of the past as we are being treated to a beautiful sunny day with a breeze and temperatures in the mid 80s.  Now this is what I call festival weather.

Heading to the north stage and the Dell Dome

The crowds at the Dell Dome continue to grow as more and more people spread the word about all the great things taking place inside.  And having a dome with air conditioning doesn’t hurt, either.

Getting an airbrush tattoo

More mixtape creations

Visitors to the dome are encouraged to create their own mix of music from a set list offered through Dell.  Their mixes will be e-mailed to them so they can share it with friends and family.  But you don’t have to be at the festival to participate. Just head on over to the Dell Summer Rocks Web site and join in the fun.

The Dell Dome also is the place to see up-close interviews of some of your favorite artists.  Below, Cadence Weapon from Alberta, Canada, sits down with our resident MC, Jonny Santos, for a chat.

Cadence Weapon interview

That’s it for now. Great lineup tonight with Spank Rock, Lupe Fiasco and, of course, Rage Against the Machine on my schedule.

Despite a little rain this morning, the day is turning out to be beautiful here in Chicago.  Beautiful and hot… maybe even a bit hotter than the Texas heat we have been seeing back in Austin.  However that’s not stopping the crowds here at Lollapalooza 2008, who’ve been out in force checking out their favorite bands and checking in at the popular Dell Dome.

I took a quick break from the festivities myself in order to share some photos from the festival, the first stop on the Dell Summer Rocks Tour.  Check it out:

Dell Dome early Friday afternoon

Getting a quick hair by one of our stylists

Making buttons for the event

Creating a custom mix

Mike Ming painting canvas in the dome

As you can see, there are plenty of activities going on at the Dell Dome. You can:

• Make your own digital mixtape
• Create a band button
• Get your hair rocked out
• Make a custom tee
• Get tatted up (temporary, of course)
• Meet Dell resident artist, Mike Ming

I’ve got to get back, so more pictures later.  Later tonight we’ve got the Spin/Dell Lounge AfterParty going on, and I’ll be sure to capture some of the action as The Gutter Twins rock the event.

The Dell Summer Rocks Tour kicked off this week with the highly successful Dell Towel Drop, and now it’s time for the first leg of festival runs as the Dell Lounge and Dell Dome hit the Lollapalooza 2008 music festival.

The festival itself runs from Aug. 1-3 at Grant Park in Chicago, and the Dell Dome has some incredible artists slated to play.  Check out the lineup for Friday, the first day of the event from the dome…

• The Go! Team
• Does It Offend You, Yeah?
• Tiny Masters of Today
• Bang Camaro
• The Terrible Twos
• Sofia Talvik

Outside of the featured musicians above, we will also have the incredibly talented Mike Ming on tour. His artistic work is showcased on our some of our Inspiron 1525 laptops.  So if you are going to Lollapalooza, please make sure to stop by and say hello.

Friday night after the festival winds down for the day, Spin Magazine and the Dell lounge will be hosting a fantastic Lollapalooza AfterParty.   The Gutter Twins are center stage along with feature guests Does It Offend You, Yeah? It’s not too late to RSVP, but make sure you do so now!

I’ve heard that space is filling up quickly and this is one event you certainly don’t want to miss, I know I won’t.

You can follow me as I Tweet live from the event from Twitter @ChrisBatDell

It may come as no surprise to regular Your Blog readers, but Dell is becoming even more involved in the gaming and digital life communities. Bloggers John Blain and Chris Byrd are the road and later today will be posting and tweeting from QuakeCon / Extreme Gaming Tour and the Lollapalooza music festival / Dell Summer Rocks tour, respectively.

I have no idea what they’ll turn up. But it should be a hoot!

It’s creating quite a stir online and on the air, and once you’ve heard the song you will be whistling the tune wherever you go. 

Kira Willey is the wonderful artist behind the song “Colors,”  the inspirational track that can be heard in the new Dell commercial showcasing the many customizations that can be configured for Dell computers. Kira is the founder of Fireflies Yoga and creator of the CD “Dance for the Sun,” an award-winning yoga album for kids that includes the track found in the video. 

Copywriter Bobby Hershfield, part of the Mother, NY creative team behind the commercial spot, had this to say about choosing the song:

We wanted to find a song that communicated a person’s relationship with their computer. Since the spot shows how a computer is an extension of a person, we wanted the song to reinforce that idea in an interesting and engaging way.

What we loved about “Colors” was two fold. We love first the melody and tone. It eased you into the images and had a nice emotional quality to it. Secondly, we loved the lyrics that colors matched a mood. That a person could feel differently one day to the next. We thought that was a nice metaphor for Dell, whose family of computers contain different styles, patterns, colors, and features. The song with the images really reinforced the idea that there is a Dell for everyone.

We came across the song through our editor, who had found it during a search. As he was editing the spot he thought the song worked well with the imagery and gave the spot overall a nice quality to it.

We couldn’t be happier with the way it all turned out

I was fortunate enough to chat with Kira and gather more information on the song and her background as an artist.

CB: Where were you born, and where do you currently reside?

KW: I was born in Boston, and grew up all over New England. My husband and I now live in eastern Pennsylvania with our two young children.

CB: I understand from a young age and throughout high school, your passion was playing the violin.  Looking back, did you always see a career for yourself in music?

KW: I’ve played music since I was five years old, when I began the Suzuki method of violin. In recitals I played Twinkle Twinkle next to now world-famous violinist Joshua Bell! Although I didn’t know music would become my career until after college, it’s always been a huge part of my life. Even when I had a “real job” and wasn’t working in music, I loved that I could speak the language with other musicians, and was always grateful for that lifelong musical education.

I have a large family, and almost everyone is very musical—lots of singers and instrumentalists. My brother, who sings bass on three tracks on my CD, and my dad are fantastic singers. And my cousin Beau Lisy co-produced the album and is an amazing percussionist and drummer.

CB: What was your inspiration for creating “Dance for the Sun?”

KW: I was living in New York City, teaching music to young children, and began practicing yoga at around the same time. I eventually got certified to teach yoga to kids, and the natural way for me to teach—and a very effective way, as it turned out–was to sing and use lots of rhythm. I created Fireflies Musical Yoga for Kids, and “Dance for the Sun” evolved for the most part out of the songs I wrote to use in my classes. I had no idea that the CD and its concept of teaching musical yoga to kids would connect so well with families and become so popular, but I’m certainly glad it has.

CB: How did the song “Colors” come about?

KW: I had wanted to do a song about colors for a while, and felt like it was almost too simple. But I realized after I wrote it that it has a few different levels of meaning: the literal one, which kids really connect to because colors are so directly related to their world—all kids have a strong opinion about their favorite colors! But it also describes the different moods we all have and how we can feel lots of different ways at once, which is important for kids to recognize and learn that that’s OK. And even on another level, in the line “all the colors of the world are in me,” I was going for the idea that even though we’re all different kinds of people, we’re more alike than we are different. It can really mean whatever anyone wants it to mean.

CB: When did you think when Dell contacted you about using your music?

KW: It was a bolt out of the blue–I was excited about it, particularly about the potential of my music connecting with a broader audience.

CB: The new commercial is beautiful, and the song fits very well.  What does your family think now that your music can be heard online and on TV?

KW: Everyone’s really thrilled, and lots of people — some I know but most I don’t — are contacting me wanting to know more about the music, which is great.

CB: Do you have any plans or projects on the horizon?

KW: I’ll continue to teach Fireflies Yoga classes, give workshops and master classes, and perform kids’ yoga concerts—we did one in Bryant Park, NYC last weekend which was a blast. I’m hoping to spread the joy and benefits of kids’ yoga to a much wider audience using TV; we just finished developing a script for a children’s music and yoga TV show. I write a kids’ yoga blog for iyogalife.com, and I’m revamping my Web site with lots of videos, photos and new songs. I am also writing new songs all the time, hoping to record some of them very soon. So I’ve got lots going on!

Kira Willey

A sea of color will wash over select recreational hotspots across the U.S. tomorrow as Dell choreographs mass arrays of the quintessential summer accessory – a super-sized, eye-popping beach towel. The event launches Dell’s six-festival Summer Rocks Tour and Sweepstakes.

Large-scale checkerboard mosaics comprised of hundreds of colorful beach towels – 15,000 in all – are planned rain-or-shine for:

• Austin, Texas
• Chicago, Illinois
• Los Angeles, California
• Miami, Florida
• New York, New York
• Seattle, Washington

The premium bamboo towels evoke the new Dell Studio laptop PCs, which are available in more than 10 color combinations.

Hangtags on the towels announce the Dell Summer Rocks Sweepstakes, which offers passionate music fans the chance to win one of 10 pairs of tickets to the 2008 Austin City Limits Music Festival, Sept. 26-28 in Austin, Texas.

Dell’s Summer Rocks Tour will take the eclectic Dell Dome experience to six of the summer’s hottest music festival destinations:

• Lollapalooza – Chicago, Aug. 1-3
• Virgin Mobile Festival – Baltimore, Aug. 9-10
• Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival – San Francisco, Aug. 22-24
• Bumbershoot – Seattle, Aug. 30-Sept. 1
• Monolith Music Festival – Morrison, Colo., Sept. 13-14
• Austin City Limits Music Festival – Austin, Texas, Sept. 26-28

The exterior of the geodesic Dell Dome will serve as a massive canvas for the work of Brooklyn-based artist Mike Ming, whose designs are available on the Dell™ Inspiron™ 1525 laptop. Ming also will create a new work of art at each Dell Dome event and assist visitors with their own projects.

Inside the Dell Dome, visitors can take part in unique Dell experiences like:

• Stations for creating a 20-track “digital mix tape” from a menu of up to 100 songs.
• A pop culture hair salon, where stylists will recreate iconic rock star hairdos.
• Custom and Mike Ming original airbrush tattoos.
• Custom heat iron transfers for shirts, bags and scarves.

Who wouldn’t want to walk around Lollapalooza looking like Amy Winehouse?

For highlights from the Dell Summer Rocks tour, and special online features and downloads, visit the Dell Lounge.