Ryanne and Verdi get their FreeVlog dolls! from laureng on Vimeo.

Jeffrey Taylor and I ambushed Ryanne and Verdi with the dolls that Cheryl and Rupert made for them, as thanks for freevlog.org ~laureng

So Ru Howe and I brainstormed an idea for an Open Source Online Video Award. Something anyone can give to anyone involved in online video. No awards shows. No voting. No approval process. No bullshit. Someone does something with online video that you think is wonderful or weird or amazing or moving? You can give them an award for it. We were thinking the only thing we’d ask is that people giving an award actually take the time to present a physical token of some sort, like a certificate or a little trophy. And that award recipients make time within a few months or a year to give out another award, so that it keeps going.

We thought we’d start it by giving an award for Outstanding Services to the Videoblogging Community and give it to Ryanne and Verdi for making Freevlog. The intention was to send it anonymously, so they wouldn’t know who’d done it, they’d just get the award. We had half-baked plans to mail the award to, say, a relative in a tiny rural town, who could post the final packages in the hopes that Ryanne and Verdi would never figure out where the award really came from. Like a Valentine from a Secret Admirer.

We enlisted Jeffrey Taylor to deliver our “trophies” at the Open Video Conference this weekend. There couldn’t be a more perfect place to give out the first Open Source Online Video Award.

Unfortunately, the anonymous part of the plan was lost in translation, and the award collaborators stand revealed. Best to just own up and take credit for the plan. It wasn’t an extraordinarily well executed plan, it didn’t have any pomp or circumstance. But it was accomplished with the characteristic authenticity - blemishes and all - that I love so much about videobloggers. Congratulations to Ryanne and Verdi on your award, such as it is, and thank you for your immeasurable services to the videoblogging community. You are appreciated. We just wanted you to know.

Of course, this video made all the hours it took to make doll hair well worth it! I’m grateful to Jeffrey for remembering to mention that my mom helped make the dolls. And if Ryanne and Verdi want a graphic to show off their award, here it is:

My friend Linda is retiring from full-time teaching this year. To help celebrate, my friend Rachel and I made a digital story for Linda.

We were asked to create a video about Linda’s impact on the Australia/New Zealand Study Abroad program, which Linda and Rachel created as a result of their work with Digital Storytelling. Rachel and I realized the story could not just be about the international cultural exchange program, that it needed to encompass the power of storytelling as well. To get a look at the big picture, so we could distill it, we tried to map out, on a whiteboard, the entire series of events that culminated with an international exchange focused on indigenous culture. There were too many events, though, so we mapped what felt like the truly essential pieces.

We could easily have made an hour-long documentary film with all the material collected over the last ten years or so. Linda went on a sabbatical where she traveled the world interviewing storytellers. Linda and Rachel have taught Digital Storytelling classes for several years, impacting the lives of hundreds of students. They also teach the process to faculty, sometimes with my help. And the international exchange has been ongoing for the last four summers. We’ve also hosted at least four return visits. The metaphor of ripples helped us distill this material, and the impact of Linda in particular, to its utter essence, and into this 5-minute story.

We both felt it would be inappropriate to narrate, and instead we chose to let the stories do the talking. We excerpted them, but did not edit them, which means we left the voices and visuals intact. We added a bit of text, and some beautiful photos to accompany our words. We connected the dots of “aha” moments and experiences. We chose not to worry if anyone else “gets it.” This video is for Linda, and she gets it. If you feel it as a summation of years, instead of a linear narrative, you’ll get it.

Meanwhile, what’s in YOUR nest egg?

Are you mad yet? What are you doing about it?

Join us (150 strong so far) for a Nest Egg Hunt demonstration on the sidewalks in front of the AIG building, Central Ave & Thomas Rd, Phoenix, AZ on April 11 at 11am local time / 2pm PDT. Demonstrate your desire for a new way forward to a more just economy. Showing up will empower our leaders in government to stand up to the banks.

TWITTER — http://twitter.com/phxwayfwd
FACEBOOK — http://bit.ly/I68D
RSVP: twitvite — http://twtvite.com/g9g9o2
RSVP: upcoming — http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/2372257/

Want to help me get ready? Leave a comment here or in the demonstration forum and I’ll email you ASAP.

Not in Phoenix? Join a demonstration in your city: A New Way Forward.

Happy Videoblogging Week 2009 everybody!

Friends have gathered this week to think about / work on / play with video on the web. I’m not there, but I’m thinking about them, cheering them on, and a piece of my mind and spirit is there with them. Good luck! Do great things!

(made using spell with flickr)

Just a little tour showing progress so far. Nothing easier than rolling outside with my phone and shooting a little Qik video. I’ve got plants. Most of them I started from seed. Most of them grew. Hurray me! Soundtrack by local birds. Guest appearance by White Kitty.

We turned on Qik on my iPhone for a little while today. The mockingbird steals the whole show.

Last year I decided to stop celebrating birthdays, and instead I decided to start celebrating whenever I grow and become a better person.

But my mom instigated a surprise birthday party on the occasion of my fortieth trip around the sun. She got my six closest friends and my husband to keep the secret and meet up at a roadside diner in Rock Springs, Arizona. I thought I was just going to meet my mom for lunch. Instead a whole bunch of wonderful happened.

And I feel like a better person than I did yesterday. Sometimes your friends and family have to remind you.

Thank you.

Especially you, Mom.

Now, I don’t remember what date I shot it, or what I wanted to say. Duh.

My favorite thing about buying locally grown produce is that it forces me to be creative in order to use whatever happens to be fresh. I go shopping with a general plan, but instead of knowing I need potatoes, I might know I need “some starchy vegetable” and I get my choice of all kinds of great stuff, but I could end up with jicama or turnips instead of potatoes. That means I have to be flexible and let the food inspire me. In turn that makes me feel very alive, instead of like a cooking robot sticking grimly to the shopping list and the menu plan.

So, the other night at the market there was this cutie little mix of Heirloom tomatoes, cherry size, that came in four colors. When I was washing them at home, I noticed I’d squashed one in my grocery bag, so of course I ate it on the spot. Oh! My! Goodness! It was super delicious, almost like a summer tomato, only less acidic, with a mellow sweet tang. I knew some of these babies would have to be lunch the next day.

In the cabinet I had half a pound of orzo pasta and in the fridge some leftover feta cheese. I remembered a Food Network recipe for Orzo with Feta and Tomatoes and decided to make it. It called for pasta, feta cheese, grape tomatoes and fresh parsley. Had all that stuff. But I also had a couple roasted red peppers left over from when I wrapped them around goat cheese last week, and half a handful of leftover chopped scallions I’d used for a garnish on some Thai noodles. Meanwhile, I had bought fresh dill at the market, and I love, love, love tomatoes with dill. While the pasta boiled, I did the minimal prep work of halving the tomatoes, chopping fresh parsley and dill, and cutting the peppers into bite-sized pieces.

So the improvised recipe turned out to be:

• half a pound of orzo pasta
• a handful of feta cheese crumbles
• fresh parsley
• fresh dill
• half a pint of mixed cherry tomatoes, halved
• two roasted red peppers, chopped
• half a handful of chopped chives
• 1 tbsp. butter
• 1 tbsp. olive oil

After draining the pasta, I mixed in the butter and oil and feta, then dropped in everything else and tossed it a bit. It was so good I completely forgot about fresh ground pepper or salt.

This will serve 2-3 people as a meal, or four people as a side dish.

All this local, organically grown produce was $24 at Downtown Phoenix Public Market. I joined Maya’s Farm CSA tonight, too. That means next week I’ll get a dozen fresh eggs and a share of whatever vegetables have just been picked. So I better get cooking! Usually this many veggies last Gary and I a couple of weeks.

I chose Maya’s Farm because Maya herself was selling me the vegetables, and her farm is just ten miles from my house. My CSA membership is for three months - actually a little less, just whatever is left in the season. Maya offered to prorate the amount or just let me beef up my share with some additional selections from her market tables. I took the beef-up option. I also gave her all my saved up egg cartons to fill up with more eggs! Reuse, better than recycling.

Maya’s stand looked so beautiful - everything there was top notch. I’m pretty excited! I think her produce will keep me motivated until I get my own garden in the ground.

When I was a kid, I sang this just the way they did on Hee Haw or whatever show it’s from. Horrible country twang and all. And since singing the tune stuck in my head is the only way to get it out, well, I sang it just like I did when I was a kid. I haven’t thought of this song in years and years. This is all Heath’s fault.

Of course I shot some video of the light rail opening myself. But I have deliberately been un-teching during the holidays. My mom stayed with us for nine or ten days, and I wanted to be with her, not pasted in front of the computer. We hung out and made a lot of stuff. Custom covers for my husband’s mill & lathe so they won’t get covered with shop dust. Bags to hold protective eyewear in the shop. A couple crocheted hats and scarves, too. … So, when I get to it, I’ll post it. Honestly I haven’t even looked at it yet! Some vlogger.

I made some screen grabs of a few of the participants during the Vlog Global Flash Meeting hosted by VlogEurope on October 18, 2008.

I consider the day I changed my major from Engineering to Fine Art to be the day I became an artist. Because I made a conscious decision that I would pursue questions over answers.

Tyson Crosbie

I just realized that Phoenix artist and photographer Tyson Crosbie started a new videoblog about art and being an artist: Lying to Tell the Truth (current popular abbreviation L4T … hmmm, I like L=t⁴).

I met Tyson at the first PHXedit. He showed me a book he was about to publish of his photos of Phoenix, and I was, well, utterly lost in them. I was torn and conflicted, because I wanted to get lost and mesmerized in the images, but I was hosting the event and so I felt like I had to talk to people. Meh. I hate that. I mean, I love talking to people, and I love looking at art. What I hate is when life hits me with a wrenching choice between the two. And Tyson’s work does make it a wrenching choice, rather than a trivial choice.

So I’m now what you might call a raging stalker crazy insta-fan of Tyson’s vlog, because it looks Real (as discussed recently by my friend Heath), and because Tyson’s talking about art, the value of art, what it means to be an artist, and he’s willing to struggle with those questions in front of us all. With his dogs, too.

Check out Tyson’s vlog and his other work. If you’re the kind of person that would read one of my posts to the end, I can pretty much guarantee that you won’t be sorry.

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I don’t see myself finishing out VloMo. I’m not making quality posts with any kind of thought to them this time around. I’m not enjoying what I make, and it shows. I can either finish, or enjoy watching and commenting on other people’s work. I need to take some time off and evolve a little. So I’m going to go enjoy my holiday with my family without guilt, and I’ll catch you on the flip side. If I can do some halfway decent storytelling, or share a sweet or funny moment, I’ll post it, and there will be some sort of revamp in 2009, hopefully early 2009.

I’ll leave you with a nice thought from @brookhinton:

sticking with something that isn’t enriching you is rarely a good plan

Indrani Kopal of Malaysiakini.tv documented the spirit of Transmission Asia-Pacific.

Last May I attended Transmission Asia-Pacific to teach video activists how to use WordPress with Show in a Box themes and plugins to distribute their video content online. Sungmi, one of the filmmakers participating, shot this video of about half of us on the bus from Jakarta to our campsite. I didn’t shoot much video there - too busy talking to people - so I’m embedding this one from the Engage Media site. If you’d like to see work by the filmmakers who attended, a few are listed here.

Here in Phoenix, back in 1954, a man who loved making people laugh created a TV show for kids. The show ran in one form or another for 35 years. It’s most commonly known as the Wallace & Ladmo Show.

The man’s name is Bill Thompson, and he created all kinds of entertaining characters for his show, but he mostly played the straight man. For most of his show’s life he worked with two core partners as well as other cast members. He appears here as Mr. Grudgemeyer.

The man in the top hat is Ladmo. That’s the name of his character, and he eventually legally changed his own name to Ladmo. Ladmo is the everykid, who just wants to have a good time.

Ladmo and Mr. Grudgemeyer are constantly at war over their favorite park bench. Slapstick always ensues. This is one of many “Mr. Grudgemeyer” episodes I’ve saved. Yes I accidentally left ten seconds or so of black at the front. Oops.

When I was a kid I watched this show every weekday. Even into high school. Almost everyone who grew up in Arizona did. If you meet people from Arizona, and find they have a similar, rather bent sense of humor, blame Bill Thompson.