Yes, I've been gone awhile. But it's not like I don't have things to talk about. Maybe that's why I've been gone awhile. Want the scoop? Here's your show.
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Thanks, anonymous person, for the text message of encouragement! This episode is a list/discussion/monologue of some potential future episodes (proving that I really do have topics in store... "the list of episodes is strong but the podcasting motivation is weak"?)
Questions? Ideas? Call 701-645-ERIC (a.k.a. 701-645-3742) and let me know!
What's it all about? No, not the deep meaning-of-life stuff, but the purpose of this podcast?
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I was pondering how I was going to frame this show and then heard something from Clay Shaver at Remodeling Clay podcast.
"Everytime I meet someone face to face from a Podcast I listen to... my first thought is 'did he have a stroke?' I'm a 1.8x Guy." @RemodlingClay | 9:17 AM - 6 Oct 2016
Clay's perspective on the reason behind podcasting. (I adopted this without even realizing it: "Here's your show.")
Joe Rogan. Background pocast? The exception to the rule?
We don't say "the" in front of freeways in the Twin Cities, and that would sound weird. They're just numbers. "This morning, I'll take 35E to work. I exit before I hit 94 so traffic isn't bad. It slows down around 494, though." (494 and 694 form the "beltway" around the downtowns that 94 runs through on its way up to North Dakota)
“For Southern Californians in particular, hella represents a crucial shibboleth separating the two major regions of the state" Bonus points if you know where the term "shibboleth" comes from without Googling.
Hella reminds me a line from a TV commercial: "Just say Stella!" Or is it Pella? Or is it "use" and not "say"? And what's it for? What a horrible jingle if I can't remember any of that?
Seasons as a podcast structure. They can be good. They provide natural breaks and entry/exit points. But they only work with a themed show. If I get into batching the Ericast, I might do it "silently" and do themes that amount to seasons. My fear in that is setting an awful tone because the pre-recorded episodes don't take national (or personal) events into account.
Keep that feedback coming! 701-645-ERIC (701-645-3742) or email me (eric) at ericast.com
For most people, summer is a chance to relax and unwind. Maybe it will be.
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This episode features a new Audio-Technica microphone! Let me know if you like how it sounds.
The Ericast, which in 2005 was a weekly 20 minute podcast, is now "several times a year." That's a nod and a tease to Vince Miller's podcast.
What's the Spring 2017 summary? Moab in March. April - Warren Nelson. Then back-to-back "Men's Conferences". May - Hot air balloon ride for Candela and the Small Business Expo (like Get Motivated). We've been at our new church for exactly a year, give or take a few days, and every few weeks I bump into someone who realizes that and says, "I had no idea you'd left Berean!"
What would you like to hear next on the Ericast? Call 701-645-3742 and let me know!
This is going to be a bit of a travelogue. So when you ask, "Where did you go with your daughter?" ... here's your show.
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I'm a little tired. And, podcasts are just too hard. I'm going to be talking for about 20 minutes, so that's 20 minutes. But there's about a half-hour of show-prep before that, typing up some notes and figuring out what I'm talking about. And then there's at least a half hour, probably closer to 45 minutes, of copying and pasting code to putz with the feed.
Maybe I'm just reeling a bit from the loss of the Minnov8 podcast, which closed after 400 episodes.
And if I had an income stream, I'd hire out the podcast production, but I think my time is cheaper than that.
So, I'm looking for some feedback on the future of the show. As you can tell, it's not very regular. I love doing it, and I have plenty of content to make it weekly, but I'm starting to think that an erratic podcast is worse than none at all.
One good excuse for the delay, though, was a little family getaway. Highlights:
- Every-other-year schedule.
- Western Utah in 2015, then Eastern Utah this year
- Where to fly?
- Flying United in leggings
- Grand Junction
- Utah Highway 128
- Arches National Park
- Canyonlands (Island in the Sky) and Dead Horse State Park
- View of Castle Valley from I-70
- Colorado National Monument
- Flying home
Questions? Comments? Call 701-645-3742 (a.k.a. 701-645-ERIC) and let me know what you think (and where I should take the show)
When you can't find the podcast that talks about the topic you want, you recreate it and hope that someone points out the source material to you. Let's see if that works! Here's your show.
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Everyone: Call 701-645-ERIC (701-645-3742) and comment
Well, it's been awhile, and there's a reason I was called back to the show. Want a personal episode? Here's your show.
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Everyone: Call 701-645-ERIC (701-645-3742) and comment
Let's reduce the show notes down to some links...
You never quite know what's going to drive me back to do a podcast episode, and this week it's a profound throwaway comment from my boss. Curious? Here's your show.
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"Not since 2011 has the Ericast been confronted with a five-syllabale year! How will we survive 2017?!?"
Remember when the world was going to end in 2012? (or 2000? or 1999?)
Exciting task over break: We cleaned up Studio A. Now featuring "a desk on a desk"
"Between the extremes of 'arrogance' and 'self-loathing,' kindness forms a healthy range of 'confidence with humility.'"
In the context of conservative religious positions, or some extreme political positions (not necessarily politically conservative)
We decided that the right "balance" is to be confident in what you believe you know, but humble enough to know you might be wrong, and that the driving force behind that balance is kindness to keep an open heart and listen to others.
Roger Thompson defined balance as something you're always "moving through" -- you never "achieve it". As a person, that's true -- try standing on one foot. You're not a pile of rocks on a beach, that are stacked to be balanced and then stay there.
The extremes you have to guard against are arrogance on the confidence side, and self-loathing on the humility side.
And I'll admit that I'm sufficiently in touch with myself that I've been able to identify both in myself.
One of the benefits when you pursue experiences is that, sometimes, you learn something profound in a genuine, visceral way. Want an example? Here's your show.
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John 3 passage about the wind.
The Albuquerque Box explained.
Albuquerque Box time-lapse.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, and I think I'm back in the iTunes Directory right now. Want to know what it took for that to happen? Here's your show.
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Everyone: Call 701-645-ERIC (701-645-3742) and comment
I've got a long history of episodes with a cold. Some of that is the voicework tie-in, some is just mere convenience in the schedule. Right now I'm faking my way through for the vice-provost and others; if I work hard, I can sound somewhat healthy.
It's Listener Feedback week, because the Ericast is about the listeners. Back in July, I got a call from listener Steve saying that there were real people who cared that I wasn't in the iTunes Directory. So, I fought to get back into the store. I was been resetting the feed all last week; apologies if multiple copies came through!
(I'd would love to know what state the feed is in on your side, and you can tell your friends to just search the store!)
The "Dweeb Thoughts" name may or may not stick around, or come back. Thoughts?
We did get other listener feedback, and while no name was left I recognize this as the voice of listener Chad. Take care!
And do keep listening; I've got some actual episode topics on deck. Let me know what you think -- 701-645-3742 a.k.a. 701-645-ERIC.
We've got an election coming up, and I'm going to say very little about it, except for one little clip from an old documentary movie. Here's your show.
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I've missed you. Maybe you've missed me? Putting this show together is so hard. It shouldn't be that hard, and that's what I'm finding at work, too. Straightforward things are hard.
So, I didn't talk about SimpleREV 2016, but I will. And I didn't talk about my hot air balloon ride, but I will. And I haven't even played Steve's call. But I will But not today.
In the midst of that, Ruth was talking about showing The Atomic Cafe to her classes. I haven't watched it in years. Now that we're out of the Cold War and maybe into a new Cold War, it's interesting to watch.
And one clip stuck out. I wish I could find the reference, but here's the text from a transcript. It comes out of a nuclear explosion and leads into an Eisenhower clip, but I don't think it's part of either one. It features a line- drawing animation, but the narration is pretty haunting:
“In times of social crisis and tension. In times when changes come so thick and fast that the individual can no longer place himself in his group, when he knows something is wrong but doesn’t know what, when he feels himself a pawn, in times like these most men become highly suggestible. They listen eagerly for any voice which sounds authoritative. They listen eagerly for anyone who can tell them what is wrong, and what to do to right it – who can diagnose their troubles and prescribe a cure.”
Let me know what you think. Call 701-645-3742 (a.k.a. 701-645-ERIC) or drop an email to me (eric) at ericast.com.
Every so often I go on a bit of a theological rant. This is one of those episodes. But whether you like talking about God or you don't, I think you like this one. Here's your show.
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Today's date has a lot of meaning, and maybe we'll cover it another time.
A theological joke is, "I feel like Job!" Because nothing compares to Job. #FirstDraftSineadSongs.
But some bad luck starting with a now-dead cricket, culminating with weird GoDaddy domain experiences. And I realized, "a) It's not about the money, and b) I don't need to deal with this."
That's relevant because a) the feed is still changing (how's it going?), and the Ericast is a personal podcast, and this week is a personal topic.
Ray Edwards is a copy-writer. He writes advertising copy. Very good at it. He now shares the podcast with his son Sean as he battles Parkinson's Disease.
They have a "Spiritual Foundations" segment that I really like.
If you don't know, there's a lot of discussion, sometimes debate, even dissension in the Christian community. And you'd think, "Can't they all just get along?" But the topic is important, and not everyone agrees on everything. And this is documented in the Bible, though while some might be the result of "sin," not everything is. It's just that we don't have the full picture.
Episodes 245 and 246 of the Ray Edwards show had a discussion to which I said, "YES!" So I share it here, in the spirit of, "Hey, it's not just me! At least two other guys agree with me." Take a listen... Then consider my observations on 1st Peter 2 and 1st Thessalonians 4.
Questions? Ideas? Call 701-645-3742 (a.k.a. 701-645-ERIC) or try emailing me (eric) at ericast.com and see if that email address still works after my GoDaddy excitement...
The girls are at an age where we do at least one roadtrip adventure a year. This year, it was Memphis, Tennessee. Wondering why?
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I almost named this "Walking in Memphis" but I'm in the middle of changing the feed and don't want a bunch of Marc Cohn fans flocking to the podcast and then getting confused and annoyed.
Topics this week:
- Retired Navy Command Master Chief Evelyn (Vonn) Banks
- Iowa City and Cyber Science 3D
- ReUnion Brewery, featuring the "Grilled Salmon Salad" ($15 gets you mixed greens, lemon caper vinaigrette, caramelized onions, feta, and cucumbers)
- Nauvoo temple, Mormon village and giant lilypads (American Lotus)
- Peabody Duck March
- Eating Catfish on Beale Street
- National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel
- Kudzu in Mississippi
- Country Music on the drive north
Questions? Comments? Points of additional curiosity? Call 701-645-ERIC (a.k.a. 701-645-3742) and let me know what you think!
Some things become a habit or pattern, and sometimes that's good. Have you ever noticed that I've closed the podcast with the exact same pair or words for the past 277 episodes? Here's your show.
Podcast listeners: Click here for a link to the show notes page!
Everyone: Call 701-645-ERIC (701-645-3742) and comment
A month and a half after the last episode... again, it's (almost) early morning and raining here in the beautiful Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area. My biggest notice regarding this casual episode (you'll have to listen to learn the thinking behind my admonition to "take care") is that I'm going to be switching podcast hosts in the next week or two, so if your feed gets a bit strange, that's why.
Also, for the first time in forever, we've bumped up the quality of the Ericast file format and we're now at a whopping 64kbps -- still mono, though if a special stereo episode comes along it'll end up at 128kbps. So, this file is double the "usual" size (sorry!) but it should sound slightly better if you listen through headphones or in a quiet environment. If you were listening on the car/bus or while jogging/biking, you probably won't notice an improvement... but I'm curious if you do. (Unfortunately, it might also make the background noise and microphone pops more clear...)
Do let me know how things are coming across on your side -- 701-645-3742 (a.k.a. 701-645-ERIC)