THIS morning, I opened my email and found a message from Maxwell DeMille's Cicada Club in Los Angeles, informing me that Ian Whitcomb And His Bungalow Boys would be playing at the club at 8pm. Furthermore, it said there would be a live, streaming video of the event on the club's web site. Intrigued, I consulted my world clock and found that 8pm in LA equaled 3pm in Sydney. I set a reminder in Outlook and duly forgot all about it.

at 2:55, the reminder popped up, so I followed the link in the email...and there he was - Ian Whitcomb strumming a banjo uke in an elegant Art Deco ballroom! The quality of the broadcast was fantastic, and they even had a live chat room. I entered and told them how cool I thought it all was. I've been a Whitcomb fan for years, and I've always wanted to go to the Cicada Club.

Then it happened.

I had one eye on the broadcast as I worked on a Word document when Mr DeMille himself stepped up to the mic and told the audience that 'someone' was watching the "electronic television" broadcast all the way over in Sydney, Australia! I couldn't believe my ears. I promptly posted a thankyou message in the chat room, and Mr DeMille replied with a cordial, "You're welcome."

People often say the Internet and the rise of an online culture has eroded our social skills and made us all more insular. While that's true to some extent, it's also provided us with amazing opportunities to connect with like-minded people all over the world. Today, I visited somewhere I had previously only imagined, saw one of my favourite performers, and talked to someone I admire, all without leaving my office chair. And it didn't cost me a cent.


Ian Whitcomb