Mikael Lewis performs “Wildflower (for Foster)” written by Dave Olson and Mikael Lewis, at some restaurant in Orem, Utah, Aug. 16, 2017.
Videos
Transportation: Philippines – Going Elsewhere, via various modes
Rambling around Philippines via various modes (but not all possible means by any means) of transportation including trike/tuktuk, car, van… plus observing traffic, jeepneys, busses and so on. This is all. Just watching the road and scenes, as-it-is.
“Are you Worthy?” Personal Publishing from Greeks to Geeks spiel (video)
My WordCamp Whistler co-conspiritor, photographerKris Krug , shot video of my entire “Are you Worthy?” spiel with his new Flipcam and posted it in a YouTube playlist in 5 segments for your viewing convenience – in 2009 (when Youtube had a 10 minute limit). Meanwhile in 2018, I’ve stitched the bits together into one video for your viewing amusement.
Sure, there are gaps jumps… there is also any audio version and a roundup post with Tweets, blogs etc, plus a collection of the items in my suitcase of mystery and even a transcription of the spiel.
Continue reading “Are you Worthy?” Personal Publishing from Greeks to Geeks spiel (video)
Trainspotting: Riding the Rails in Japan
Riding the Rails in Japan: Various trains (including shinkansen and futsu-densha) from KIX (Kansai Airport) to Shin-Osaka to Okayama to Zyoto (Joto) – stitched together as-is for your meditative enjoyment.
Slice of Guam / Micronesia / German history from WW1
Super interesting video by the (excellent) series The Great War about the Germans in Micronesia in WW1.
In brief: The Germans “colonized” Palau (and Pohnpei i believe) during the pre-war period, but when the Japanese took over their holdings, their ships were stuck without ability to re-provision,. As such, ended up in Guam (held by the then-neutral US who’d “acquired” the island during the then-recent Spanish-American war (along with Philippines and Puerto Rico)).
For a period, the US, Germans and Chamorros lived together without much incident, but when the US entered the war, the warship Cormoran was told to surrender but instead, was scuttled. The hulk now lays in Apra harbour, with the Tokai Maru (Japanese naval vessel sunk by US sub in WW2) alongside, together making a popular dive site.
{I lived on Guam and travelled to Palau, Yap etc. in early 1990s and was well familiar with WW2 history and this wreck but didn’t know the details of the back story.}
Also (from comment elsewhere):
Keep in mind, i have big heart for the Micronesian people pulled into wars with NOTHING to do with them and their interests. (Spent extended time in Guam, Saipan, Palau (my fave place on earth) and Yap.
IMO The only way to (possibly) prevent future catastrophes is to learn the fck-ups of hubris and vagaries of colonialism to then intelligently articulate the rights of peaceful people.
Note that Guam was dragged into another few erstwhile global conflict chapters of late – ergo: repopulation of bases (many of which were repatriated to locals control in mid-1990s) after US Military bad-actors repeated fcked up in Okinawa predicating mass migration of troops due to local pressure/protest, plus the sabre rattling by DPRK with threats of bombs at Andersen AFB (which i passed through almost daily for 18 months to a landlocked beach – no longer possible to do). Also worth noting: each day thousands of ROK holidaymakers come to the island so the threat wasn’t just to US interests, but also to intimidate other Koreans.
In all of the this, the locals (especially indigenous Chamorros – who vote for a US congress-rep but who is not able to vote in US congress) are further marginalized. The “spin” is it creates jobs and increases “aid” to the island.
Dave talks Bali United FC and Supporter Culture with Thailand’s “Ari Football Explorer”
While attending an ASEAN Cup football (soccer) match between Bali United FC and a club from Singapore, i offered a few thoughts to some documenters from Thailand who were travelling around the tournament sites making lovely video dispatches. around the 21 min mark, i riff about about supporter culture, singing, drumming and so on, plus accurately predict the final score of 3-1 for Bali United.
New Yellow Bridge Connecting Nusa Lembongan and Ceningan in Bali Indonesia
Another visit to Nusa Ceningan, Bali, Indonesia for a walk across the new “Yellow Bridge” which replaced the previous bridge which collapsed killing several folks who were on way to a ceremony. The new bridge shares the same super structure (i think) though its slightly wider now and with a metal bridge deck. Still made for pedestrians and scooters/bikes – of which now two can sorta…almost… pass.
This bridge connects Nusa Ceningan with Nusa Lembongan in Bali. Indonesia. This clip shows the influx of tourists who come to take photos of the charming bridge crossing a lovely channel plied by various boats. https://youtu.be/Z3zsH6dz1jw
Ceremony Procession in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
A wee snippet from a coffee shop balcony of a ceremonial parade in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia. The island residents mostly practice a mix of Hinduism and Buddhism (most of the rest of Indonesia is predominantly Muslim) and there are frequent ceremonies, constant offerings, and shrines, temples and the like most everywhere. https://youtu.be/rHArX6fAE5w
Revisiting True North Media House and With Glowing Hearts, 8 years on…
Leading up to Vancouver 2010 Olympics, filmmaker Andrew Lavigne followed, filmed and documented various stories around social justice and social media. One storyline was the “True North Media House” a renegade media project cooked up by me, Kris Krüg & Robert Scales based on our experiences documenting previous Olympics. In brief, we wanted to create a context in which grassroots bloggers, photographers, podcasters, vidmakers etc. could capture and share stories, reach a wider audience, and (if they chose to) stay out of trouble with IOC.
We aimed to take a non-political, non-denominational, non-everything kind of approach in that folks were welcome to write about whatever they want and participate anyway they wanted as long as they: took responsibility for their own work, published content under creative Commons license, submitted their RSS feeds to our “firehose”. This was unique amidst the adversarial relationship the Olympics built up with various constituent groups in the community. In other words, the Olympics were going to happen in our city, and we had an opportunity to share stories of what life is really like in Vancouver, the neighbourhoods we live in and the changes we saw to our civic society during that time, plus lots of parties 
Wisely, we eschewed a physical space in favour of providing a litany of meet-ups, campaigns, workshops, and offering access to our mailing list and other channels to all the PR agencies, hospitality houses, various educational an activist groups and so on providing a wide variety of topics and events for TNMH accredited documenters to document. By the way, to be accredited, one must agree to the three principles above, and print out their own badge, lamination optional but recommended. Overall, so many wonderful people took on this challenge from youth to elders, people who thought they would have no interest in the Olympics to people who were diehard enthusiasts, to activists to people seeking free beer.
Uncounted thousands of stories were created, amplified through some very strategic social media kung fu, and the story of True North Media House became a story for the mainstream media with coverage in dozens of publications. Indeed, some “mainstream” journalists wrote with a glint of envy about our lack of word counts, deadlines and assignments… Yet we were motivated and focused enough to actually create compelling narratives and artifacts.
Thailand: Trains, Tuks and Planes
Views from windows of trains, tuktuks, planes and whatnot while rambling around Thailand… from Pai to Chiang Mai to Phitsanulok and so on.