DLTQ.org

Today, December 24th 2007, is three years since I posted my first video:

Since then, I have posted hundreds of videos here on dltq.org and elsewhere, and I have uploaded countless more that are just gathering dust in the archives.

Today is Christmas, and I havent spent time on editing a video for today, even though I maybe should.

We are the media, whether we like it or not.

Merry Christmas, all!

I hate Oslo.

In weak moments, I also love it, but I mostly hate this city, the capital of Norway.

I have lived in Oslo several years, in the Kolbotn area outside it, and I remember from already back then when I was 9-10 years old: I hated the city. There was something about the look of the city that disgusted me.

Yes, there are very nice parts of Oslo, and I have always enjoyed Holmenkollen, Bygdøy and the forests outside the city that are so readily available. I enjoy the Vigeland park, as this video was a testament to.

I arrived Oslo half an our ago, tired from the bus ride with a drunkard just behind me shouting all night: “Are we not in Oslo yet? Jesus!”. When we arrived Göteborg (halfway on the way to Oslo) he was SO ready to leave the bus, but went into a fit when he was told that no, this was not Oslo. Funny, tragic.

So, I arrived Oslo half an hour ago, and I walked on the passage between the bus station and the train station, and deep down in my guts, I shivered. This is the only city I have visited that gives me this reaction. There is something about Oslo trying to hard to be an international city, and it cannot, even though it is the capital of Norway.

Perhaps I just conveniently make Oslo the scapegoat for all the negative feelings I have for Norway, my own country. All my distaste with the complacency, the headlines in newspapers going “Norway is the world’s best country!”, the patting ourselves on the back, staying out of the European Union because we are so darned afraid of losing our independence again, and going shopping around the world with our oil money.

There are a lot of good people in Norway, but there is a part of the culture and the public debate that is bugging me, that is making me as physically ill as I feel when I arrive Oslo from a lengthy absence. Let’s see how I feel when I arrive Bergen later today.

Norway disgusts me, and yet they are - literally - my people.

I was quite surprised when I was ready to board the Säfflebuss from Copenhagen to Oslo and saw the sign saying “Free wi-fi on board”. So here I am, checking up on google reader and posting here on the first hour of my trip to Bergen for Christmas.

The only thing I miss now is an electricity socket - but hey, I am already impressed, Safflebussen!

I brought two books which I am hoping to finish during the next week: Nighttrain to Lissabon by Pascal Mercier, and Kill kill faster faster by Joel Rose.

I have not been to Bergen in ages, it seems. Did I ever go last year? Hmm.

I hear there is no snow in Bergen, which is a shame.

I watched Cheryl’s video, and read the comments, and wanted to write a comment myself, but then I withdrew from it. What had started as an attempt of an organic conversation (great term by Jeffrey Taylor - i haven’t heard it used by others, but then again, it is pretty generic), became a series of “oh, these accusations” and attempts to defend oneself. I don’t know, I will respond in video I think. Cheryl has some good questions there, and the question is NOT whether epic fu have been transparent or not. Yes, she singled them out, and pointed out a few things, but they were not really the issue.

It is obvious - to me at least - that there are more things than meet the eye in a lot of cases of “social media”. There is a lot of transparency going around, but there is also a lot of stories or parts of stories which are Not told. No, I will Not mention names, duh!

Mainstream media will continue their assault on this new medium, and many of us who claim to have this geniune interest in giving other people voices will end up doing consultancy gigs and dealing the deals (like I hope to do more of myself). And besides all of this, a million new outlets will appear. The saturation of media will continue, and I am positively thrilled by the prospect of some of these opportunities.

I will read some in the Joel Rose book now.

So, I am going to Bergen for Christmas. I am arriving there on Sunday, and will stay in Bergen untill 27th when I will go to Oslo, meet up with a few friends there, and then get back to Copenhagen.

I have never been a Christmas person, and not quite because I am the Scrooge.

Scanning today’s twitter from my contacts, I read this tweet where Rupert Howe refers to a ’screenvlog’ I made in 2005.

So I made a new one, today, with music referring to my updated taste:

Click To Play

The text from the notepad:

This is text.
This is text on a page.

I made screenvlogs like this (my term, not wikipedia term) back in early 2005. Here is an example: http://www.mefeedia.com/entry/29422/

When Michael Wesch published his “Web 2.0″ video, I was amazed by his editing of the screen activity. I really liked it. I had never put that much production into my own.

So, this is a tribute to a form that I have not seen enough of. I have not played around with it enough myself either.

Thanks to Bre (via Rupert) who reminded me of the piece from June 2005.

On Monday December 24th is my 3 years anniversary of vlogging.

I will be back in Bergen then.

I will make a video like the one I did on Dec 24th 2004.

Let’s see if we have snow.

/DLTQ

I will continue on partly my video celebrating 3 years of videoblogging, and partly another project which I will put forward on monday

I have never attended Lesweb in Paris, and I cannot make it this year either. However, I just heard from Loic that there are 1700 people attending. That is utter madness!

I know a few people who go there, and I am wondering how the backchannel will be this year. Two years ago, I was active in the IRC chat during the day and could follow the backchannel discussion there. I also wrote a post after the whole Mena vs. Ben thing.

Last year LesWeb also had its drama after Loic did his French Politics stunt, which made its waves in the blogosphere.

What will happen this year? Of those 1700, I guess at least 200 will be liveblogging from the event (if the internet connection holds up) - how can we follow the countless conversations that will take place at the event?

Who knows, maybe I will go to LesWeb next year. At least I know that I will attend Reboot here in Copenhagen.

Today, during a Gtalk conversation with a friend, I wrote this:

I have so many drafted posts over the last few months. If I compare this with how I blogged a few years ago, for instance in February 2005, I become shamefully aware of a level of not only self-censorship, but also a lack of visible curiosity.

When did I stop being curious?

Did it ever stop, or am I just imagining it?

Am I finally turning old and ’set in my ways’?

So, tonight, I have been trying to summarise some of the moods I have gone through the last days, weeks, month. Since the day the election was announced.

This weekend I have also begun preparing for the video I will publish on December 24th - my 3 year anniversary “as a videoblogger”. I ask myself: “Has it only been three years?”

A mixture of feelings, a rush, has crippled me at times during these last weeks. At the same time, I have a strong determination growing. That wants to stop being in some ivory tower anymore. I know that I have a quite theoretical approach to videoblogging, and it is a shame. A shame that I haven’t “put my money where my mouth is”. A shame because I for instance could have done so much more for my friends in Nepal and Serbia when it comes to videoblogging. (If you dont remember: In Spring 2005 we were some vloggers who gathered funds to send a camera to a friend of mine, Prakash, from Kathmandu. He has unfortunately not videoblogged much. I also gave away my own camera to a friend of mine from north-eastern Serbia, and he posted some videos here. He was actually mentioned in New York Times once.)

If I had a more practical approach to videoblogging, I would do More to push for political videoblogging in Venstre in Norway during (and especially after) the Election campaign in 2005.

“Man skal ikke gråte over spilt melk” is a Norwegian saying that I should heed in this case. (= Don’t cry over spilled milk)

It is 03:17 Saturday night / Sunday morning, and this post has several times been close to be put as a draft. I am watching CNN and there is a programme about corruption in Africa. Kenya? The sound is off. I read some of the subtitles, and I shiver inside. Corruption IS more scary, to me, than any jack the ripper. Yes, I meant what I expressed in the movie I made for Fear Revere.

I think about my family. My grandmother in her home for the elderly in Bergen. I have not visited her in a very long time. I am scared of seeing her again. I am scared of seeing such a smart, intelligent woman who I have the utmost respect for be so touched by Alzheimer’s. I read most of her books, her poems, her plays, when I was younger.

I think about my relatives, doing what they do, be it politics, or studying, or teaching, or just plain living, working their trade.

Earlier tonight I talked with Bre Pettis on IM, and we agreed to do a speedvlog.

Here is his video:

Click To Play

And here is mine:

Click To Play

I liked his memories, his feelings, hopes.

Ad hoc. You can SEE how Bre remembers moments from his past. Golden, in my book.

A few days ago, I made this video but the blog post that was supposed to go with it ended up as another draft:

Click To Play

The african journalist is still uncovering corruption on CNN.

It is 03.30.

I will go in and hug the gf while she sleeps, and fall asleep myself. See you all tomorrow.