It was my fault. I missed (somehow) the email that said to check in by the left of the stage half an hour before my talk. I therefore went by the printed schedule and thought I was just supposed to climb onto the stage when it was my turn. But the printed schedule was wrong, and so they were pretty surprised when I climbed onto the stage at what was no longer my appointed time, and when they had thought I was a no-show. (In fact I was in the hall all afternoon, and standing by the wrong side of the stage, which makes the whole thing more frustrating.) My fault.

Loic offered to put me on after the UN folks were finished, but I thought it was right that the conference end with the UN Web project to educate nine million child refugees. I still think that was the right decision, but, in any case, it was my decision, not Loic’s.

Still, I’m pretty bummed. I worked hard on this talk. But it was an excellent conference with some great hallway networking and sessions.

[Tags: ninemillion leweb3 ]

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Let’s educate nine million refugee children by 2010. [Tags: ninemillion ]

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I went to the Peace Prize concert last night. What a rich experience. Not unmixed, but certainly rich.

You should know two facts about me for context: 1. As I have failed to hide, I am a huge Al Gore fan. I wish he were running for president. I wish he had been allowed to take office when we elected him. 2. As far as musical tastes go, I find I’m quite binary. I can admire and respect a musician while being completely unmoved. If I’m moved at all, I’m moved to tears. Weird. In between, there’s hardly anything beyond the occasional toe tap. Also, I’m getting to be a grumpy old man.

I got to go to the concert because I spoke at a Cisco Public Services Summit in Stockholm. Cisco then put 450 of us on a couple of trains and rolled us to Oslo for the concert, of which Cisco is one of the sponsors. As a result, we were seated in the orchestra; I was about twenty rows back, seated among people who have dedicated themselves to public service.

The concert hall looks like a hockey stadium cut in half the long way, with steep seats climbing the gorge-like sides. In the long front was a curving stage with performance areas to the right and left. In center were the evening’s hosts, Kevin Spacey and Uma Thurman. Spacey — a man who looks great in a suite — was hilarious and a confident enough performer that he put the audience at ease. We didn’t have to worry if he as going to flub his lines or say something embarrassing. I am a long-time Uma fan, but let’s just say that she’s much taller than Spacey.

The truth is that I can’t make sense of the concert. It is a celebration of peace and, in this case, of environmental activism. Why this set of performers make? Some were fantastic. Some are activists. But Kylie Minogue? Did we really need to see her in her leather outfit and her skimpily clad female band? Is this what Al Gore is about? It was a tawdry and demeaning way to open the concert. And, given that you could pull in just about any of the world’s musicians, why no one from Africa? Why no classical music? I think I’m missing the point.

[Grumpy Alert:] I know I’m missing the point when it comes to musicians who clap their hands over their heads to tell you that you should clap along, and especially ones who — like Earth Wind and Fire — explicitly tell you to stand up and dance. I think all but two bands did the clapping-over-their-heads thing, and, frankly, it just irks me. If I want to clap along, I’ll decide on my own. And if I don’t want to stand when they tell me to, well, I will anyway, but I’ll resent it. Damn you and your forced funky enthusiasm, Earth, Wind and Fire!

Melissa Etheride rocked the ecosystem. She’s got all of her in her voice. And Alicia Keyes filled the hall. Yet, while admiring her voice and performance — wow! — I totally didn’t care about the songs. I was the only one who felt that way, apparently. People also loved Annie Lenox, although I’ve never liked her voice; although I admire her personally. I’m not recommending my views; I’m pointing out my inadequacy

Rajendra Pachauri and Gore came out towards the end to say a few words. Pachauri, who says people should call him “Patchy,” spoke lightly at first, and then said the expected words about the importance ofthe cause and the honor of the evening.

Gore moved me, but I’m a sucker for political rhetoric. The course of his talk was: Climate change isn’t a political problem, it’s a moral one. As a moral problem, we should consider the rest of the moral changes before us. These problems require us to respond as a united species. Therefore, we should embrace this challenge as an occasion for joy. (Yes, I choked up as he talked. I’m like that.)

After the concert, I went back to the hotel where Cisco was holding a party featuring Earth, Wind, Fire and an extended band that included Water, Smoke, Iridium, Porridge and Velour. So, when I spotted Gore going into an interview room downstairs, I left the party and stood outside until he came out, by himself, and was waiting for Pachauri. I said “Thank you,” and he shook my hand. Yes, the very hand I’m typing this with.

I went upstairs to the Cisco party for a few minutes, and who should come in to say a few words and pose for some photos than Pachauri. As he was leaving and Earth, Wind and Fire was starting up, he paused a few feet from me. I thanked him as well, and he shook my very hand.

Two Peace Prize winners in one night!! And neither one was Henry Kissinger!

The concert was a bit weird. The situation is predictably surreal. But I am very very glad to have been there.

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Posted by mobile phone:

Blogging from my Blackberry. I\’m in Oslo. Went to the Peace Prize concert. For me, the two lump in throat moments were Melissa Etheridge singing (I’m switching my official crush from Uma to her), and Al Gore talking about climate change as a moral crisis, and why we should seize it joyously. (Too much to blog. Darn Blakckberry!)

Afterwards in the hotel, I waited for Gore to finish a media thing, and saidthank you as he passed by. He shook my hand. Twenty minutes later RK Pachuari of the IPCC passed by. I thanked him, and he shook my hand.

this all means nore to me than collecting handshakes, although I am truly happy. To have had a chance to thank Al Gore. I am sappy that way.

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I’ve loved watching Al Gore become himself. For years, he was seen as wooden, lifeless, blood-less. Some of that perception was due to Republicans and lazy comedians, but there was also some truth in it. Despite his public demeanor, the people I met during those years who knew Al Gore uniformly said that in private he was funny, relaxed, personable and passionate. Ever since he “lost” the 2000 election, we’ve all seen the private Al emerge in public. And it’s been wonderful to watch.

I realized this morning that I felt the same way about Princess Diana once she left Prince Charles. Freed from her marriage and her royal position, she began to become herself. I mourned her more than I thought I would because her story was so promising and so suddenly incomplete. Likewise, John Lennon, whom I loved as a Beatle, I loved more when he left the Beatles. I still mourn his being murdered while still in his New York chrysalis.

At the same time, I’m suspicious of the metaphysics implicit in the notion of “becoming who you are.” It smacks of essentialism, as if we have a nature or destiny that is fixed. Yet, it is a nearly inescapable perception. There are changes that we can only describe by talk of someone becoming who she is. And even if the metaphysics is off, the process is joyous to behold.

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Just in case you missed Al Gore’s Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech. What a thrill it must have been to sit down with such a piece of blank paper in front of him!

I wonder which of the presidential candidates will step up to Gore’s challenge that we institute a carbon tax?

BTW, this morning I’m taking a train to Oslo for the Peace Prize concert, as part of Cisco’s local government conference in Stockholm. That means, I believe, that I’ll have the chance to stand and applaud the Peace Prize winners, who traditionally address the crowd. I’ll clap and whistle for Al on your behalf…

[Tags: al_gore global_warming nobel oslo politics ]

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Check out the hilarious photo of a 5mb hard drive as of 1956, at Snopes….

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At the Cisco Public Services Summit in Stockholm, I’ve heard lots of great presentations about governments’ commitment to providing Internet connectedness across their populations, even — and especially — in the poorer regions. Some amazing projects are underway.

And yet, at the same time, there seems to be a near universal assumption that providing hard ID’s to the population is requisite and desirable. There are obvious reasons why governments want strong digital ID programs, but I’m hearing no discussion of any possible negative consequences of eliminating anonymity as the default on the Web. It seems to be a done deal, at least in the presentations I’ve heard. Not surprising, but to me distressing.

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Hoder is asking his social network to publicize the lawsuit that threatens to bankrupt him. Ethan Zuckerman has posted about this with his usual cogency and moral insight. You don’t have to agree with Hoder to see the suit against him as an attempt to shut out a voice and ideas. You don’t have to agree with Hoder to support him in this.

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I’m currently sitting in the Zurich airport, where everything is sparkly and incredibly expensive, on a six-hour layover on my way to Stockholm where I’m giving a talk to a conference on local governance. The conference organizers then are taking the attendees to Oslo for the Peace Prize ceremony; I assume well be in a back room watching on TV, but nonetheless, this is not something I would say no to. In fact, I bought my first suit in 15 years in part for the occasion. This is as close to Al Gore — or Uma Thurman, for that matter — as I’m ever likely to get.

Then it’s on to Paris for LeWeb 3 where I’m giving a brief talk on Web leadership, completely rewritten (but not yet rewritten enough) from the version I gave at the Web of Ideas discussion last week. Thank you, discussants!

Then I’m talking at a conference in Rome, although the details are still sketchy. There are some other plans as well, but they are sketchy to the point of erasure. But one thing is for sure: I’ll be home in a week, ready for my comfy slippers and weak American coffee.

[tags: peace prize]

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