So, what happened. I did not fill in my ESTA in advance. Did not know that was an option, and next to that, last time I flew to the USA it was still paper. So when dropping of my luggage, I could not proceed, because I had to have an ‘ESTA’ first. Interestingly enough, the desk people think all people traveling apparently know what that is. Would be interesting to throw some jargon back at them and see what happens. They pointed me to a row of computer terminals in the hallway. The kind you will probably find in prisons. Made from stainless steel, but that was not the problem. On the screen was a terrible website. All the important information and the actual things you need to do are below the fold. Another insult to user-centered designers. How difficult can it be. Anyway, that was not the problem. I completed four of the five stages. And just before I wanted to do my payment, the screen turned blue:

A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to you computer.

Huh? Interesting… I just made a picture of the ‘application number’ with my phone, and that turned out to be handy. I went back to the check-in desk to find out if they could see what happened or my status was changed, but it was not. Then they started sharing all the stories they ever wanted to share about these ESTA terminals. How they suck. How the Americans remotely update them during their office hours so passengers can not use them so the passengers need to rebook a new flight — bacause you can not fly without authorization… Was not really helping me, but was interesting information. Professionally speaking of course. Quite difficult to understand that a procedure can be that terrible.

So I went back, and tried again. Computer said no. Said that the information I entered was already in the system. Argh. I did not complete all steps, so how can that be? Quite dubious for a solitary terminal at an airport. So, new try. By the way, in the meantime, two gentlemen next to me had exactly the same thing happening. One of them was sincerely pissed of, leaving his suitcase unmanned at his ESTA terminal. In 20 seconds there were 4 guys in darkblue suits and machine guns clearing the area because of this suspicious package. Even though I tried to explain that my neighbor was complaining 40 meters away, I also needed to leave my ESTA terminal. Halfway my payment procedure. Grmbl.

So, the man got fined for leaving his luggage unmanned, turned dark red and really furious. And I did another try. At the payment page the terminal was not displaying any hint on HOW to pay. Hm. So I looked up the page on my laptop. Filled in the application number from the picture from my phone and I was in! Whooooooo! Did the payment and then the site said it was processing. Perfect.

After a few minutes, the page refreshed: Travel Not Authorized

You are not authorized to travel to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program. You may be able to obtain a visa from the Department of State for your travel. Please visit the United States Department of State website at www.travel.state.gov for additional information about applying for a visa.

Ahhhhh! Back to the nice people at the check-in. Yup, my status was access denied. And they couldn’t not do a thing. So I went to the Continental desk to find out more. The nice lady called some people and she could tell me that the process had been interrupted twice. Well, that was true. And that because of that the data could not be trusted and that because of that I did not get my authorization. But. I could get a visa, but that would take about a week. I was thinking about an hour, since my plane was leaving… And she added that when I from now on need to have a visa when I want to travel via or to the USA because of my ESTA status, because that stays in the system. Nice.

There was no need be angry, simply because the people trying to help me were really helpful and nice. And secondly, I lost my voice the day before. So shouting at people was no option too. Coffee seemed a good idea. And informing Eva in Mexico. The gate was closing by then.

No Mexico. Because of something stupid.

An hour ago I got an email from her. I will fly tomorrow. With KLM. Via Mexico City. Sweet!

What are the defining aesthetics of art in the networked era? How is mass collaboration changing notions of ownership in art? How does micropatronage change the way artists produce and distribute artwork? A great mini-documentary showing some people behind great works and good stuff like Aaron Koblin, Michelle Thorne, Régine Debatty, Vincent Moon and Bram Snijders.

Since then, I’ve shared and showed it at several places, mostly creative places like agencies and also Knowmads last week. Great to find out that it is applicable for more people, places and situations I thought of when making it. Which is great. Title can be better, maybe What you need to keep in mind as a human doing in a world of today. Like to know what you think.

Lift is a series of events built around a community of doers and thinkers who get together in Europe and Asia to explore the social consequences of new technologies. Each conference is a chance to turn changes into opportunities by anticipating the major shifts ahead, and meeting the people who drive them.

Alle muziekvideo’s zouden live moeten gaan in een vol Paradiso. Wat is dat tof zeg. Geweldige plek, licht uit, zaal vol en volume ook en dan kijken. En daarna de euforie van de mannen en vrouwen die mee hebben gewerkt. Nogmaals dank René, Bjorn, Oscar, Susan, Alfons, Jaap, René, Tim, Hans, Irma, Maurice, Stan en Jonathan!

Johan, het was mooi, het was fijn. Dank Jacco, Maarten, Diets, Jeroen maar ook Diederik en Wim. En natuurlijk Ferry.

Foto’s door Bjorn Eerkes en Maurice Mikkers.

Van de site van Excelsior Recordings:
Johan sluit af in Paradiso met goud, vinyl en nieuwe video
Na een uitgebreide afscheidstournee door het hele land en een succesvol laatste optreden in een uitverkocht Amsterdams Paradiso is het nu definitief: Johan is niet meer. Na vier albums, 46 liedjes en een ontelbaar aantal cluboptredens in binnen- en buitenland, festivalshows op onder andere Pinkpop, Lowlands en Parkpop en diverse prijzen is Johan verleden tijd. Paradiso werd gisteravond nog eenmaal getrakteerd op een intense show, mede dankzij de unieke setlist samengesteld door de fans. Diets Dijkstra, Jeroen Kleijn, Maarten Kooijman, Matthijs van Duivenbode en Jacob de Greeuw: THX!

Niet getreurd, er is ook nog beter nieuws. Om te beginnen heeft Pergola (uit 2001) onlangs de gouden status bereikt. Dat zijn dus meer dan 25.000 verkochte albums. In Paradiso ontving frontman Jacob de Greeuw uit handen van Joost Zwagerman de gouden plaat. Om dit succes te vieren is Pergola vanaf nu eenmalig en in beperkte oplage op vinyl te koop. Klassiekers als Tumble and Fall, How Does It Feel en Day Is Done, nu dan eindelijk op vinyl verkrijgbaar. Waarschijnlijk volgt er binnenkort nog een bijzondere allerlaatste release van Johan, hierover later meer.

Dan is er ook nog een nieuwe videoclip voor Why Don’t We, het allerlaatste nummer van de laatste Johan-plaat ‘4’. Marcel Kampman maakte de fraaie video, die gisteren in Paradiso in premiere ging, met in de hoofdrol schrijfster Susan Smit en Oscar Voskuil.

After more than 3 years of work, the We Feel Fine book is finally finished, and will be in stores on December 1st, published by Simon & Schuster.

The 288-page book contains photographs from over 1,000 individual bloggers, statistics from over 13 million individual feelings, hundreds of infographics, dozens of back stories and in-depth profiles, and countless insights into the ups and downs of everyday life.

Sep and I have just released a website where you can take a sneak peek at the book.

A beautiful project and a great source of inspiration as well if you’re looking for some nice data visualizations.