When J.R. LeMar posted this question in my 10 for 10 Special blog post:

I’ll give you an easy question: What is the meaning of life?

I laughed and thought: How on earth am I supposed to answer that?

It just seems to be the hardest and simplest question to try to respond to. I mean, we all know that the question is loaded and huge. Yet, at the same time, there are basic, easy answers that come to mind when we think of that question.

And, while we may all have similar answers to the same question, each of us would probably have a different way of looking at it.

So, yes, to me, the meaning of life is what we make it out to be.

Sometimes, life is about celebrating personal milestones and goals… or being joyful in someone else’s special achievements.

Or, it can be about digging in to a big bowl of banana split sundae and finding all sorts of sweet, crunchy, soft, goeey things in every scrumptious bite. On your own – or with someone special (or with a number of special folks! )

Other times, it can be about sharing the most inane Skype conversations with friends, family, or even co-workers. And, finding yourself really smiling when you type in the smiley emoticons… or laughing your head off at the silliest jokes.

Some moments, it’s about seeing old friends, catching up with loved ones, making new friends, building fresh relationships…

Or, it can be just about stretching out and enjoying a wonderful sunny day that feels perfect in every way. Or perhaps, curling up under the blankets with a nice book and a cup of tea. Or even finding an extra burst of bliss upon the sight of a bud to show the signs of spring approaching.

Life can also be about little bits of daily serendipity… like when I encountered this video by someone called Santé title “The Meaning of Life” while I was trying to think of how to blog the answer to J.R.’s question. What a joy to watch! I hope you like it too.

And perhaps, if you get the chance, you can share with us YOUR answer to the question: What is the meaning of life?

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It wasn’t planned. This whole video blogging thing. Especially not with the girl.

It just occurred to me that I’ve been wanting to do more videos for a long time, but I hardly ever do them.

So today, I decided to give it a go. It just so happened that my li’l girl walked in on me while I was recording, so I decided to do one with her. I think it was more fun with her around. Even though she did keep munching on that apple and spitting out the skins all throughout. Heh.

Anyway, I must admit, I prefer making videos where I don’t have to talk to the camera. It makes me feel weird to be the one right there. With all my strange mannerisms, accent, and goodness knows what.

I suppose, it’s like self portraiture. Only worse. Putting myself in front of a video camera is definitely A LOT MORE terrifying than putting myself in front of a still camera.

But, in the same way that I wanted to learn about portraiture (that’s why I used myself as my ‘test subject’ way back then), I also want to practice my “on camera” skills. So, here I am, learning.

My initial assessment: I think I get too giggly and fidgety when I’m nervous. I need to relax more. And, to stop over-thinking.

In any case, what do you think? What kind of things would you like to see in future video posts? if you have any ideas/suggestions/questions that you’d like me to cover, please do let me know. I don’t know how often I’d do this, but if I get a decent response (and lots more ideas), maybe I’ll do more. We’ll see.

Oh, and yes, that’s my messy studio/home office you can see right there. Meh.

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Back then, my husband and I didn’t know how he’d take to the whole idea of doing piano lessons and practices. But, we figured that since he was showing some interest, we might as well encourage him to try.

It hasn’t always been smooth sailing all the way due to a variety of reasons. But, in spite the fact that he had to change schools, and later, change piano teachers… The Boy continued to show his interest in playing the piano.

Fast forward to one year later. A few weeks ago, we were told by his current piano teacher that The Boy was invited to take part in the school’s piano concert. My son was really excited about it. In fact, he even took pleasure in doing “pretend concerts” at home.

On the day of the actual concert, The Boy told us that he was nervous about performing. So, we talked about stage fright and learning how to overcome nerves.

At 5 years old (well, 5 3/4), he was the youngest performer at the piano recitals. That didn’t seem to bother him.

And, being the silly parents that we were, we realised that we forgot to bring his piano book on the day of his performance. We were worried that he wasn’t going to be pleased about that situation, even though we knew that he can play his pieces from memory. With this in mind, I had to ask, “Do you think you can still play at the concert without your piano book?” He looked at me like I was out of my mind for even asking, and then he replied, “Of course I can!”

So, he played two of his favourite pieces – “When The Saints Go Marching In” and “Ode to Joy”. Choosing his pieces before the concert was even an interesting exercise. Especially the part on playing “Ode to Joy” as he had managed to teach himself a few different arrangements for the song. The one he finally chose for his recital was the version he felt was ‘easiest’ for him to do, although he was aware that it wasn’t necessarily the fanciest. It was all good.

In the end, he said he was quite happy with his performance, even though he felt that he didn’t play his pieces perfectly. Of course, we assured him that he played just wonderfully.

Anyway, since I’ve been meaning to share a video with you for our 52WoC #46 Task, I thought I’ll do so by sharing this moment with you —

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I’ve been wanting to play with this animation site called GoAnimate since I found it. But, my ‘story brain’ was in freeze mode. So, I just left it.

When I found one of my five-year-old’s written stories today, I knew exactly what I needed to do to encourage him to keep writing. I went straight to GoAnimate and created my first animation using my son’s monster story.

Length of the animation: 20 seconds

Time to finish this video: 30-45 minutes*

The reaction I received from my boy
upon watching his story
come to life in animation: Classic!

This collaboration was seriously fun.

*Oh, and perhaps an extra 15 minutes or so to sort out the voice over audio. And yes, that’s my boy doing a reading of his monster story.

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Just after dinner tonight, the family decided to do an experiment from the Big Book of Science Things to Make and Do. It’s the third experiment we did from the book, and I decided to take out my camera phone (a Nokia E65) to record the activity.

It’s a simple science experiment with just the following materials needed:

• Empty jar
• Tray
• vinegar
• food dye
• washing up liquid
• bicarb soda

There’s also an option to add glitter in the mix, if you want to make it look more magical. We didn’t have any, so we skipped that.

Anyway, you can watch the (grainy) video to see the step-by-step of the experiment. The video has text annotations, but you must visit the YouTube page and view the video there to see them.

And yes, it’s a fun little activity that’s easy to do. My four-your-old boy definitely love doing these experiments. And, they encourage him to enjoy learning and science.

Hmmm… I wonder what’s the next thing we’ll do?

UPDATE: Changed the video to the one that’s hosted by Amazon, to share the link to the book we used in this experiment.

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Anyway, do you use any of these? How? As in, do you use them to watch videos, share videos, and/or distribute videos (by re-posting or emailing them)?

In any case, here are 15 Top Free Online Video Hosts (+2!) —

• YouTube – Undoubtedly the most popular free online video hosting service available. Good for getting eyeballs, of course. And, it’s generally quite reliable. Probably will keep growing in this space. I have two accounts there: a personal one and a freshwavetv channel created for myself and my co-blogger on FreshWave.TV.
• MySpace – I don’t really use this to upload videos, as I’m not too keen on it. I tried it once but never really kept up with it. I’ve never really been a MySpace fan, truth be told. But, I’m slowly trying to learn how to make the most out of this.
• Revver – Although the whole process of uploading, waiting for approval, and such can be a bit taxing, the good thing here is that you know they’re trying to maintain quality control in their service. Also, the service offers ways for both producers (those who upload original videos) and distributors (those who share/re-post the videos in their own blogs and sites) a chance to make some money. They have different codes and formats available for embedding/sharing – to make life easier for those who wish to re-distribute the videos. Anyway, overall, I really like this service. View my Revver channel.
• Blip.TV – This one’s meant to be another service where you can make money from your original videos. But, I’m still unsure about this, as I haven’t seen any signs of such a thing happening in my short experience with them. The upload process is a lot easier and quicker than Revver, but I find Revver’s video conversions and output nicer. There are some aspects of it I like, though, so I’m willing to keep giving it a go.
• Vimeo – Never used it. Don’t know if I will.
• OurMedia – Tried using it when it was first released. You need to have an account with Internet Archive to get this to work. I never liked it. It was too clunky and unreliable when I gave it a go. Admittedly, I haven’t tried it again recently. But, I’m not sure if I’d like to.
• Google Video – In terms of views, this one probably got the most views and ratings for my videos. It also has a few nifty features that I like. I just wish there was a way to link directly to an account!
• Yahoo Video – I’ve never tried this service until today. The first time I tried to upload a video, it crashed my computer. Obviously, this put me off. But, maybe I’ll try again another day.
• iFilm – Looks interesting but not sure if I’ll give it a go.
• DailyMotion – Nice looking site, but looks quiet. Not sure if it’ll be worth trying.
• Grouper – Heard about this free online video hosting service a while back, but never signed up. I might try it one of these days.
• Multiply – I like Multiply as a social networking site. They’ve added a lot of nice features over the last few months, including free video hosting. You can even import videos from other services like YouTube. I tried that function and it worked well. Just not sure if it’s best to upload/import there – or just post embedded links to videos from elsewhere (like Revver or YouTube).
• AOL Uncut Video – Just found out about this. Very uninspiring.
• MSN Soapbox – Even more uninspiring than AOL Uncut. But, it might grow in popularity. I’ll just have to watch this.
• Metacafe – Another new discovery for me. And, I like what I see! I’ll definitely give this a go when I get the chance. Will report back when I do.

Oh yeah, I ended up not including the following in my poll:

• Motionbox – Again, it looks nice. But, I’m not sure if I’ll give it a go.
• Brightcove – Very professional looking service. Lots of professionally-made videos, as they’re obviously geared towards the commercial market. There are ways to make money as a producer and/or as a distributor. Not sure how it works yet, though. Or, how easy it is to get in to the action.

Hmmm… I wonder if I missed anything else? There’s probably more. Let me know if you’ve got other services that you’re using! Oh, and don’t forget to vote in the poll.

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It’s just a quick one-minute “video snapshot” of a trip to this popular beach called Boracay in the Philippines. Nothing grand. In fact, it’s probably the shortest and simplest video on file over at FreshWave.TV. And, I recognise its faults. It doesn’t matter.

One thing I remember when I started experimenting with multimedia blogging was that I just wanted to learn. To have fun. To enjoy the process. To share — and to connect. But somehow, both with podcasting and vlogging, I ended up feeling the pressure to create great stuff. And, the more I thought about it, the less I managed to do it.

That’s why I stopped podcasting. And, that’s why in 2006, there were only TWO measly videos published on FreshWave.TV. Agh.

So yes, I decided that from hereon, I’m hoping to do more podcasts and videos. They won’t always be great and polished. In fact, I imagine I’d end up creating a lot of fluff. But, when it comes to podcasting and vlogging, I think I need to apply the same lesson that I learned in writing and painting — Creating more leads to creating better. In order to come up with great things, one must be able to put up with rubbish. One just needs to keep on going, to keep on creating.

Anyway, if you don’t feel like going to FWTV’s page, you can also watch the video right here:

You can also go to this page at Revver to watch and rate the video. Feel free to grab the code and share the vid in your blogs/sites too.

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So yes, after months and months of not making any episodes for FreshWave.TV, I finally got in to video making once more. And now, we have our first Philippine-based video — Enchanted Kingdom Theme Park Rides: Episode 10. Yes, you’d find me there (with my sis and mum) riding the Jungle Log Jam and Space Shuttle. It was my first theme park visit in years.

Before this, I think the last time I visited a proper theme park was back in 1997, when I was in California. Boy! Did I have a blast back then – what with Universal Studios Hollywood, Disneyland, and Six Flags Magic Mountain. But, we’re not talking about them right now.

Now, it’s about Enchanted Kingdom, probably the Philippines’ most popular theme park.

Anyway, I can’t say that Episode 10 is my best vid work. But, it feels good to get this going again.

‘Hope you have fun watching!

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