I happened to see this tonight in the course of watching the most predictably clichéd “sex, drugs, and rock and roll in the sixties” documentary ever broadcast on TV. I suppose it’s alarming I did that in a room by myself on a Saturday night. Please don’t worry.

But again, Gene Simmons in a One Laptop Per Child commercial. And it was uploaded two years ago. I take some pride in following a solid network of savvy and culturally sophisticated online educators. I’m certain that if any of them had shared this, I would have noticed. And I would think that if any person’s collective network should be expected to detect The Demon’s alliance with OLPC, it would have been mine.

The most substantial coverage I can find is from KISSopolis. I don’t want to go there for my open educational technology news.

I need to rethink how I am approaching all this. I’m obviously doing it wrong.

The video is for an OLPC Canada project intended to “[enhance] education for Aboriginal youth with technological tools designed for creative, innovative, self-empowered learning.” This is the first I’ve seen of the project, I certainly endorse those objectives. I hope the project is immensely beneficial to Aboriginal youth.

But… GENE SIMMONS. Sheesh…

The project is funded by the Belinda Stronach Foundation. Stronach had an eventful career in politics, so when I learned of her involvement I immediately wondered if she had something to do with Simmons’s appearance. Apparently, they had indeed “teamed up” years ago in a Canadian music industry start-up.