What Have I Forgotten?
Well to blog more really.. I have been far to busy.
Click the pix to see more..
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I Got Blogged
I met Jemima Kiss last night at a Seesmic meet up in Austin, Texas. I thought she was a really nice person..
Nicer now..
Leave a comment if you have the inclination and you never know.. i may get interviewed again.
Arrived in Texas
It was dark and everywhere was built upon.. I had expected a little but of desert and perhaps the odd nodding donkey but no such luck.
Oh and how cool is this..?
Thanks to the wonders of blogging and the fact there are people that do actually read this, Bill a podcasting friend from the Florida Soap Box and also the Progressive Podcast Network (PPN) managed to hook up with me for a brief hello at Texas airport where we were getting picked up by our friend Kity Kity aka Susan.
For each of us it is the first time we had met a member of the PPN in the flesh and a great welcome for me to see a familiar face and hear a voice I have listened to for ages.
Myself and Phil Campbell are the guests of Kity Kity in Wylie, Texas before we head down to the interactive extravaganza that is South By South West (SXSW) in Austin, Texas, about 3-4 hours south of here.
Make sure you check out Bills blog at http://filthandthefury.blogspot.com
You can also follow/add bill on Twitter
He is a really decent guy and I hope we can grab a beer together soon!
So.. In amongst making content and recovering from the trip we are slowly getting excited for the week to come..
We have some cool apps on the horizon thanks to Phil's magic hands.. Watch this space!
Social Media Connections
I am glad i stuck with a brief video and didn't embarrass myself.
When Bill talks about the connections made within social media I think he hits the nail on the head. So much so that you should just click this link and read his post. That way I can get on with my packing and preparations for my flight tomorrow to Austin, Texas and the massive festival that is SXSW.
Let me just say though.. All these places we spend time on allow us to converse with people in some ways on better terms that we could do in the flesh.
A couple of days ago I posted my 3000 video post on Seesmic and soon after was asked.. "Was it worth it?".
I answered that I would have happily posted 5000 posts in exchange for the chance to have made contact with half of the amazing people I have met through the site. It has taken many of my previous 'Twitter' connections to another dimension, as I choose what conversation I wish to get involved with, with whom and when.
How many conversations do you have in a day where you do not have the chance to choose those parameters?
I have been podcasting for a couple of years now and before that I was a heavy forum poster.. That said, I still feel I am very new to many of the intricacies of social media and with this in mind I am more than a little excited to what the future may hold.
Project Update:
Regarding the UNHCR project.. As I type this there are a few representatives in a small office in Amman, Jordan looking over it now. I hope to hear back soon and have a date where I can put it out there. Then, hopefully it will start a conversation and perhaps direct some help to some people that really need it.
Focus On Imaging 08 (Part 3)
Thanks to Phil Campbell for the edit.
All three parts of the video are here.. Part One Part Two Part Three
Focus On Imaging 08 (Part 2)
Thanks to Phil Campbell for the edit.
All three parts of the video are here.. Part One Part Two Part Three
Focus on Imaging 08 (Part 1)
Thanks to Phil Campbell for the hard work in editing this film and to Yellow Snapper for introducing us to some great Think Tank kit..
All three parts of the video are here.. Part One Part Two Part Three
Back On The Road
Getting myself to jobs has been a bit of a pain in the ass what with living in a village and having to either borrow cars, cadge lifts or use public transport..
That is until now..
Today I set out in search of a cheep car only to return with a not so cheap motorbike.
I have always had motorbikes of one type or another but this is my first BMW.
For those that are really interested it is a BMW F650GS.. I bought it with the money I have put aside for the tax man in the hope that my insurance company will reimburse me for my Land Rover. It's a gamble I know, but I really need transport now so I can get on with my photographic assignments.
The F650GS's engine has won the Dakar Rally at least twice and with a listed fuel consumption of 74.3 miles per gallon it is one of the most environmentally friendly motorbikes of it's size on the road. I calculated that if I can keep the bike and myself in one piece for two years, the money I would have saved on fuel compared to driving the Land Rover would cover the cost of the bike.
So why a motorbike..?
Free parking.
No congestion charge to pay in London.
Easy to negotiate traffic jams.
Cheep road tax and insurance.
Low fuel consumption.
Good on and off road.
Hold their value.
Fun to drive.
On the downside there is the weather issue.. But when needed I have waterproofs and there is alway a car not to far away to borrow should I need to take the dog to the vet etc etc.. Yes I miss the versatility of having a truck that I can throw all kinds of crap in and not worry about a muddy dog etc.. But for all the other times where I am trundling along in a 5 mile tailback I would much rather be on a bike.. Lets face it, our roads in the UK are getting busier and busier, this is the ultimate congestion beater.
That said.. I will be realistic and see how the next few months go before I decide if this is just going to be a spring/summer thing. This bike with it's ABS and it's heated grips should do me well in all seasons. We will just have to see what the British summer decides to throw at us.
Check Out My Box
There is nothing quite like getting post that isn't a bill.. I love unexpected mail and this box came out of the blue and has really brightened my day.
You can see more about my recent crash by
clicking
HERE
..HERE
and
HERE
Or you can click these links below.. If the links
aren't working come back in a bit as the servers are
being refreshed..
http://www.ourmaninside.com/blog/files/84acdca4295a8c386c63fbcf7954a1c2-77.php
http://www.ourmaninside.com/blog/files/0188b4e27e4482e04cf38d5effcd1afa-78.php
http://www.ourmaninside.com/blog/files/dbf66fea33e89f3defea42ce486c88e5-79.php
Thanks again to
Summersault
Communications
Crashage
Desperate times call
for desperate measures and whilst thinking about how
I can regain my freedom and leave the village I
remembered a little Vespa wannabe I had hidden under
a pile of junk in the garage.
I am not normally a winter rider, I don't have the
electrically heated kit that is normally required to
survive our extreme temperatures. I don't like
falling off on the ice either.. especially
after the Landy
incident.
Still, i do have a fat no claims bonus on a motorbike
having never claimed and the little 125cc LML Star
Delux does do the length of the country on a cup of
fuel.. so why not. If it weren't for the ice this
week I would have about 9 years no claimes on a car
too.
I can insure tax and mot the bike for the same price
as a set of Land Rover seat covers. So I have. And
for the moment I have limited freedom and the means
to get out of the village and at least into the
nearest two towns without resulting to our sporadic
and expensive public transport.
I am still going to need a car for those long
distance kit lugging journeys but having a burn on
the little bike today has made me yearn for another
'practical' bike that I can use for work.
I would also like to add a big thank You to the kind
folks that have donated to the Land Rover fund. I
can't tell you how cheeky i feel having this on my
site. It wasn't my initial idea and I was asked from
more than one person to set it up. I also won't be a
hypocrite and say i don't appreciate the idea.. I do.
Insurance companies are notorious at being difficult
and mine is no exception. After over 14 phone calls i
have found the right person to talk to, only then to
be told my claim has had to be re-started due to an
internal error. It will be a while before I see this
resolved and in the meantime I really need to be
mobile. At the very least so that I can work.
You never know, Land Rover may still get wind of my
appreciation and sponsor me to produce more content.
Parody and when to not look into a horses mouth..
parody |ˈparədi|
noun ( pl. -dies)
an imitation of the style of a particular writer, artist, or genre with deliberate exaggeration for comic effect.
I am loving the seesmic films that have sprouted after yesterdays crash.. It is linked here if you havn't seen it.
Here are a couple of the parody's posted so far..
There has also been talk of a Land Rover Fund and whilst I am sat at my Grand Mothers (an 83 year old Italian woman who makes killer pizza named Ofelia) she has seen a couple of people talking of a collection so I can get another sensible vehicle. This is amazing to her and she is more than a little shocked that a website made up of people I mostly haven't met are considering helping me in acquiring a new car..!
I said they were joking but she said "Never look a gift horse in the mouth" or words to that effect. She actually said, "Never look in a horses mouth", but i know what she means..
So i am not.. Perhaps I am being cheeky by posting this chip-in link here.. but hey-ho.. I did just get a repair quote for £6780.. and that pretty much means my Land Rover is a write off.. I can't ever imagine getting another in the same condition for what i paid for this one.. Not unless someone out there knows the folks at Land Rover and they want to use my original post for marketing..
I do feel like it saved my life.. But whether i could ever get another.. who knows..
Crash!
Work in progress, streaming live with Qik.
As you chat and explain what you are up to, little text comments scroll up onto your phone screen and a real time conversation is possible with anyone in the world who is viewing your video on Qik. As an added bonus as soon as you film you can notify anyone following you on twitter that you are live and as soon as you stop filming the video is also sent to Seesmic.
Not content with all that exposure I have also embedded the clip here below...
Our Man Inside Amman - A podast interview.
I feel I am bowled over with my various projects at the moment so I am literally popping the url to his podcast in my feed. This not only saves me some valuble editing time but also helps me to introduce and thank a British podcaster who lives in Canada called David Bailey.
David kindly took the time to phone me up whilst I was working In Amman, Jordan and stole a few moments to record this brief interview. This may go a little way to explaining where I have been these last few weeks. Maybe it will even go some way to apologising in advance for my lackadaisical approach to podcasting as I finish up the project and get it over to the UNHCR.
David's content can be found at http://dfbmbe.wordpress.com and of course my podcast is at Documentally.com
You can also stream the podcast here.. DFBMBE Blog
Many thanks to Dave in taking the time to call me in jordan and for making the interview available as a podcast.
correction: During the interview i should have said... It is the largest refugee crisis to hit the Middle East in 60 years. We must not forget Afghanistan.
Geek Retreat Struck By Lightning
Tonight I got a call that the converted barn on my Dad's farm where Geek Retreat was meant to be taking place has been hit by a bolt of lightning. It's happened before. Such is the erratic and crazy Welsh weather
I was a bit peeved to hear this but a postponement has two hidden benefits...
One: We all get to go to attend some of the many social media events happening in and around the same week.
