When storytelling is not about having a total control of the story. When user friendly is about having fun. When interactivity is about creativity.

I found this: fill in the missing word’s Mad Libs book at a flea market last weekend. His name might be Klas, the guy who used to own this book. My guess is that he was about 12 years old and that he did spend a holiday together with his parents at the Holiday Inn by the Nags Head Beach, North Carolina, USA. The hotel address and telephone number is written on the cover.

I guess that his parents wanted him to study English during the trip and bought this book, where the trick was to fill in the missing words.

Klas realized really quickly that he could fill out the blanks with any word that he wanted, as long as it was an adjective, adverb or noun. And he got really creative.

Do not underestimate the power of letting the user being able to twist and tweak the story.

Just listen to the commencement speech that Robert Krulwich gave at the California Institute of Technology, this spring, 2008.

People has always being telling stories. Some for a living and some for other reasons. But it has not always been tagable, indexable and searchable. It’s time to stop arguing about who’s good enough. Find your favourites and enjoy.

These are my top 5 precious storytellers:

1. Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich – Radiolab

2. Eddie Goldman – No holds barred

3. Ted – Inspired talks by the world’s greatest thinkers and doers

4. Jaiku – It’s all about micro blogging

5. Bambuser – Live from your mobile

Got some Swedish favourites too: Mindpark, Norra Grängesbergsgatan, Björn Falkevik and…

I have spend the two last weeks listening to the postcasts from Radiolab, which Tomas told me about.

Radiolab started in late 2001, when Jad Abumrad was asked to host a showcase of documentary radio. He called it Radiolab.

”Radiolab believes your ears are a portal to another world. Where sound illuminates ideas, and the boundaries blur between science, philosophy, and human experience.

Big questions are investigated, tinkered with, and encouraged to grow. Bring your curiosity, and we’ll feed it with possibility.”

I am so totally in love with Jad Abumrad ; ) He is an intelligent storyteller who loves to talk about the brain and how it works. I can not think if anything more attractive ; )

Did you know that only 25 % of the fiber goes from the ear to the brain. And that 75 % goes from the brain to the ear. Seventy five percent of the fiber goes down from the brain to the ear…

Kimbo Slice is the guy who got popular from his street fighting, shown on Youtube.

He is unproven as a professional fighter, but people are curious to see how good this hardworking heavyweight guy is in the cage. Some people even compares him with Mike Tyson.

Kimbo Slice—real name Kevin Ferguson—in one of the street fighting videos on Youtube.

This guy is really popular and he has earned it. My favourite MMA podcasting journalist Eddie Goldman at ”No Holds Barred” speaks warmly about Kimbo: ”There is a certain charisma, there is a tangible quality about him, that attracts people towards him and it makes you want to know everything about him. It makes you want to know how he will do in the ring”.

During this year, 2008, São Paulo will be celebrating 100 years of Japanese immigration.

One of the themes of the programme ”City of Knowledge”, Cidade do Conhecimento, at the University of São Paulo, the USP, is the history of the Japanese immigration, focusing on the Japanese women – myths and icons.

There will be several debates and workshops on the subject. A free course on 3D modeling, creating avatars for the ”Rokugatsu Matsuri”, the June festival, that will be held in Second Life.

The newspaper Folha Online is having a special on 100 anos imigração japonesa. Read about the Japanese-Brazilian culture. Check out the videocast. And learn how to make a temaki : )

I am picky when it comes to choosing a low budget pen. It has to have those special qualities. The black ink should be smoothly running, but not leaking on paper or hand.

I had this conversation with Tomas Seo about which pen to choose and we agreed upon these two:

• Pilot G-2 07

• Staedtler pigment liner 03

I would like to add these to my favourites:

• Pilot Drawing pen 02

• Pentel Stylo JMT 10 (in Swedish)

The May 2008 edition of Urban Lifestyle Report talks, among other things, about my guest blogging at Lotta Holmström’s Citizen Media Watch.

Down load the report for free.

Read the hyper local blog by Alf Fransson – Åsbrobloggen.

The backdrop of my jaiku page is taken from this trip to the Banespa Tower in São Paulo, do Brasiiiil : )

I did spend five weeks in São Paulo, last February. (Did also visit; Guarujá, Ubatuba, Campinas and Sorocaba). It was all about hanging out with friends and doing martial arts.

I did train Naginata with The São Paulo Naginata club in the Saga dojo and some Brazilian Jiu-jitsu at another place in the city with coach Gigio.

Angie and I did drive a lot through the huge city, in her cool, but a bit bumpy, blue jeep : )

This Saturday is the world wide Pangea Day, a global day of film. Don’t miss it!

Watch Jehane Noujaim talk, at TED Prize wish 2006, about her wish to unite the world for one film event day. A day for telling stories and bringing people together.

When Jehane Noujaim talks about her wish for world peace, she’s not aiming fort the beauty queen contest’s tiara.
– I think the first step to world peace is for people to meet each other, she says.

I am going to spend my Saturday evening at Mookie. They are hosting a Swedish Pangea Day screening event in Stockholm.

You gotta love these guys for picking on someone their own size : )
It’s respect. Kimbo vs. Tank.

David Lee ”Tank” Abbott: ”I have been the toughest guy around for a long, long time… I just didn’t put it on the Internet”.