I’ve been playing with Seesmic for the first time today.

(I got an invite after emailing the guy in charge a few weeks ago)

In my intro to the NaVloPoMo group about how we’d cope with trying to post video every day in November, I said that I thought any online video counted, no matter how it was recorded or published… so I’m going to follow my own advice and just publish the video conversation I’ve had on Seesmic today.

I’ve linked to the public versions of the videos, below. i.e. You can still see them, even if you don’t have a Seesmic account. But if you don’t have a Seesmic account, you just can’t get involved, reply or go anywhere else in Seesmic from these links. So you have to click on each link in turn. Which is a drag, but I guess it’ll open out before long.

The thing is, you can see how a video conversation can develop easily with this tool.

These links open in new window/tabs:

This is my original post, called “My first proper Seesmic: get mobile, Seesmic”

And below are the following short replies, all within a short time of each other, which develop into a conversation of sorts, where people are referencing each other’s replies. They’re quite quick, and you can see how this could get a) addictive and b) interesting, particularly if these people can use video to talk and show things beyond the confines of their desk.

Christian’s reply

Clint’s reply

Deek’s reply

Mike’s reply

Mike’s follow up saying that half the above video was lost

My reply to all of them

Adam’s reply

My reply to Adam and Mike

Nik’s reply

My reply to Nik

If you can’t be bothered to watch them all, my point in my video is that they’ve limited it so that you pretty much HAVE to use your webcam to record – trying to use anything else is a pain. And yet it would be SO EASY (and free) for them to change this – so that you could film outside with your regular camera and then just upload the file direct to Seesmic. At the moment, if you film something with your camera, you have to convert it to a Flash flv file before uploading, which is silly. It seems obvious to me that conversations could be more interesting if they were inspired by and conducted in more varied and interesting environments than just people’s desks/offices.

Hardly rocket science. But quite fun. And there’s a shortage of good tools to create video conversations. Damn, I hate that word. Why can’t I stop using it?

Just a collection of moments from today.

I wish I could have shown you the Gnome House. It was one of the sweetest things I’ve ever seen. Amy was awed. But it was way too dark to film. (Even my kitchen at night is too dark to film. It’s the one thing that really bugs me about the N93. I think I’m going to have to stop using it soon, so I can have some fun with colours and night-time filming.)

Anyway, the school is pretty amazing.

Those drawings I show on the way into the main building – they’re by people in Class 9, who are (I guess) 15/16 years old.

It’s not an art school. It’s a Waldorf school – an holistic educational movement set up by Rudolph Steiner in the early 20th Century. Read more here and see the Wikipedia entry on him here. It’s pretty interesting.

Also ran into the brilliant and unhinged Jason Jarrett (ABuddhistPodcast.com and ForestRowRadio.com) whom I met for the first time two weeks ago at Phil Campbell’s bash (see here for evidence), and only afterwards realised that we had this other connection. Only saw him briefly, but hopefully have even more excuse to hang out now.

Another little film that’s just a moment I caught while working from home yesterday. No excuse not to get this up moments after I shot it yesterday. Just guilt about all the things I hadn’t done.

Click To Play

I made this on Thursday night, but my computer froze and I lost half my edit, so I gave up and went to bed. Couldn’t do it in the phone because I needed to cut Jeffrey in. So I’m cheating and backdating it to when it was really made.

This is a recipe Jeffrey posted on truthfairy.eu for Day 11 of NaVloPoMo. I read on Twitter that some other NaVloPoMoers have been making it, and I thought I’d have a go myself.

I’m not much of a cook, but as I mentioned the other night, one of my 15 failed 2007 New Year’s Resolutions was to cook 2 recipes every week. So this is my second recipe for the third week of January.

Jeffrey calls it Quick & Dirty Carbonara. Quick and Dirty. That’s how I like it.

Video Files:
MP4 / Flash

Click To Play

Another message from London’s underground tourist board.

Click To Play

A timeless bedtime/bathtime scene.

This was actually preceded by another scene in which she was crying uncontrollably, and I tried singing Baa Baa Black Sheep, Row Row Row Your Boat, Five Little Ducks and Horsey Horsey to calm her down, to no avail. Then I had a moment of divine inspiration and started singing something which made her instantly flop in my lap, head back, still and calm… the Main Theme from Star Wars. Anybody looking through the window at us would’ve been forgiven for thinking that I was singing Ave Maria.

Not that she’s seen Star Wars. The only time she’s heard any of the music was in Car Going Fast film. Which was a bit of a favourite last week. So me singing the theme reminded her (a totally different part of the theme, though, so she’s pretty smart to pick it up). Next thing I knew, she was sitting on the loo demanding Car Going Fast. Watch on Loo, Daddy.

What am I doing to my family?

(other than turning them into light entertainment for you?)

Files:
Quicktime / Flash

Click To Play

I don’t know how you all do it.

So many of you taking part in NaVloPoMo have been writing comments on my videos every day, so I know you’re watching – AND you’re making incredible films. Which is what it should be all about, I feel – I don’t want to just be making films here, I want to be watching and talking, responding and collaborating. But I haven’t been able to find the time to do that for days. So I’ve tried to steal a couple of hours this evening to watch videos.

I watched 5-10 films while the dinner was in the oven between 8 and 9. Then I watched a few more while Kate ordered our shopping online between 10 and 11.30.

And I still hadn’t made a film myself. In fact, I was so busy watching that I’d totally forgotten that I was even supposed to make one myself. Until 11.33pm. So this is the only option left to me! Really fulfilling what I said at the beginning of NaVloPoMo about just posting ANYTHING. You can’t even *see* this, the low light filming on my phone is so bad.

Anyway, the point is that I’m humbled by the talent and passion and generosity everybody’s showing by both creating and watching other people. And a bit frustrated at why I can’t get my shit together to do it better myself.

At some point, I want to try to share links to some of the videos I’ve watched. But there are dozens being posted for NaVloPoMo each day, and I’m days and days behind.

Now I’m really finally off to my bed on the floor. Kate and I usually hang out quite a lot in the evenings, so it felt a bit weird watching separate things in separate rooms. I wish I could both watch and hang with her. Perhaps I’m going to have to set up an Apple TV in our living room and drag her even further into our hell.

Alternative video files:
Quicktime / Flash

Click To Play

I handed the camera to Kate today. We were in Burnham Beeches, just outside London (map/satphoto). The colours are incredible this year. Another thing I’ll miss in evergreen Vancouver Island.

I was trying to persuade her to sing her song The Falling of the Leaves (a Yeats poem she set to music – you can hear it on her Myspace page) so that I could use it as a soundtrack for the other moments I shot all around the woods. But this is better.

I think I’m going to give her the camera more often.

Alternative file types:
Quicktime / Flash (click to play if player above doesn’t work)