The plan was for my gang to celebrate the new year with a Caribbean-themed party, and someone linked this vid in a group email, to get us revved up for the island-riddims.

It made me think of something the playwright Edward Albee said last spring, in an interview at UCLA. An audience member asked what kind of art Mr. Albee likes. He said he likes art that is “useful.”

“Art is useful when it teaches you about yourself, consciousness, and gives you a fuller experience of life.”

Ok, so this vid is not art, nor is it useful, but it is funny.

But I am also interested in online videos that meet Mr. Albee’s criteria.

Therefore, I invite you to balance out the Vybz Kartel with Jill Bolte Taylor’s inspiring story about the stroke that allowed her to transcend her left brain. It occurs to me now that the euphoria she describes could be akin to what it feels like to be a teenaged superfan in the front row of a Vybz Kartel concert.

- Liane Balaban