BicycleMark does Portugal

Mark is my new American buddy who lives in Amsterdam. He's a video blogger, among other things, and has opened my eyes to the art of vlogging, as it's called.

I've been trying for a while now to fully appreciate the value of originally-produced online video - well, not to appreciate it, but rather to figure out the key to it, to understand exactly what niche online video can play in the future.

Yes, Crooks and Liars has its obviously successful niche of broadcasting great I-gotcha video, but what about original broadcasts, what role is there for those? And yes, we've done a good job with DemsTV, and have even more in store for you with PoliticsTV (including today's edition, Monday Morning Blogger), but in spite of those successes I'm still trying to figure out in my head what precise role online video can and should play? What is missing out there and how can video fill that niche?

Anyway, Mark interviewed me for his show a few weeks back (before the Great Flu of 2006) and showed how he edits his videos etc. I really hadn't paid much attention to video blogs before, other than Rocketboom, which I just don't get (but I think you have to be a straight guy to get Rocketboom). So I just happened back on Mark's vlog today and saw his latest installment, a bit of video blogging on his drive to his grandma's house in Portugal.

Between the music and Mark's commentary, it's simple and magical. It's a fascinating quick look at what video blogging is about, and it's kind of a fun 3 minutes to boot.

And it includes one of the best lines ever. Or at least recently.

Watch Mark's drive to grandma's here.