No, not "wallpaper" like the kind you put on the background of your computer desktop screen. We're talking about genuine "dead trees glued to house walls" here. Having sorted through my entire life in photographic form (and having successfully encapsulated it into 22 hard-to-find plastic shoeboxes that are now stacked in the basement in two piles each five feet tall), this gem is too good to pass up: Feel free to click that picture and zoom in on the owls in all their 1970s glory. (Or, technically, their 1960s glory? The wallpaper was probably put up in 1971 or maybe 1972 so I suppose the design itself is from a year or two prior to that...) I miss that house. And, as I mention in the podcast, it's not like anyone ever sets out to decorate something as "weird". At the time, it seemed perfectly reasonable. I wish I could find a photo of the bathroom... Do you have any similar "tacky decorating memories"? Share them by calling 206-339-3742 (a.k.a. 206-339-ERIC) or e-mailing them to me (eric) at ericast.com. Don't forget, too, that you can add in your comments about religion, war, Glenn Beck, the social gospel, Goodnight Moon, or any other form of internet hug.

A repeat of Episode 70 of the Ericast (posted July 6, 2006) in memory of Mikael Rudolph, who died February 26th, 2010. To round out the war/military/government discussion that we only touched on in this podcast episode, here are clips of an impeachment-related interview that Mikael gave about a year after his Ericast interview: Part 1 Part 2 My favorite quote from the Ericast episode is Mikael's reference to himself as a "recovering evangelical charismatic contemplative." Listen for it. Here's the original text of the episode post: The long-awaited "Part 2" of my interview with performer extraordinaire Mikael Rudolph (info at http://www.MikaelTheMime.com/). This part of the interview talks about Mikael's show "Swim Home", its Christian perspective/context/overtones, and Mikael's political views -- in general, what it means to be "Christian" and "politically active" in this country today. Much different from Part 1, and equally interesting (in my opinion)! Because time was short, we weren't able to talk in detail about additional resources that you, the dedicated listener, might want to browse if you're intrigued by Mikael's comments. But he was good enough to forward the following list of "recommended reading", so-to-speak: The Project for a New American Century's own published plans for global domination with signers Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowicz, Perle, John Bolton, Jeb Bush and a number of other now Bush Administration officials and/or corporate cronies.Independent journalist Greg Palast - an American working for the BBC Independent journalist Dahr Jamail www.dahrjamail.com (a great source of REAL truth from Iraq)Seymour Hersh (maybe the greatest living journalist in my opinion)The writings of William Rivers RittCountdown with Keith AldermannThe website of House Representative John Conyers, Jr. AlterNet Truthdig [email protected] Democrats of AmericaAfterDowningStreet.org911truth.org The New York Times The Washington Post The London Times British Broadcast Company Canadian Broadcast Company Congress.com Veterans for Peace Veterans for Peace and Justice Iraq Veterans Against the War Amnesty International The American Civil Liberties Union Democrats.com Minnesota DFL Party MoveOn.org People for the American Way Harper's Weekly [email protected] School of the Americas Watch Act for Change Public Campaign Action The Colbert Report OF COURSE!!! The Late Show with John Stewart Air America Radio Working Assets Working Families e-activist Network PBS - ESPECIALLY THE NEWS HOUR WITH JIM LEHRER Amy Goodman's Democracy Now! is very dry, but she is incredibly brilliant and cuts to the core of the news Original documents on the web including very personal correspondence between ENRON criminal Ken Lay and the PresidentAs I mention in the podcast, I agree with about 90% of what Mikael is saying, and it's up to you to figure out the other 10%... so I'm not necessarily endorsing the above references. But if you're intrigured by what Mikael has to say in this episode, you now have some reading that you can do! As always, if you have any questions/concerns/comments/thoughts, call 206-339-3742 (206-339-ERIC) or e-mail eric at ericast.com. And thanks for listening! 2006 UPDATE: Mikael left a comment to the podcast show notes with this update: Thanks Eric. I really enjoyed the interview. I just need to learn to SPEAK UP!!! (Not that uncommon for a mime, I know). I did want to mention one more resource that might be of interest to you and your listerners: Sojourners Magazine and online Christian resource center: www.sojo.net Pastor Jim Wallis is a wonderful speaker and writer who really clarifies how being a Christian can be reconciled with a truly compassionate and Progressive political view. Social justice and serving the needs of the poor are Christian values and "Sojourners" is one part of the Christian Church as a whole that can help us all to see that giving to those in most need can and will help us find the true heart

A repeat of Episode 69 of the Ericast (posted June 29, 2006) in memory of Mikael Rudolph, who died February 26th, 2010. Here are clips of the show that we discussed in this interview: And here's the original text of the episode post: A spectacularly interesting interview this week with Mikael Rudolph -- more information at www.MikaelTheMime.com. The name of the site gives you a hint at his profession! The general discussion revolves around the history of Mikael's art and the challenge (and importance!) of non-verbal communication. Please bear with the odd digital echoes or "hiccups", which come and go through just the first five minutes or so of the interview. I don't know how they got there (something goofy with the Skype recording) and wish I could get rid of them, but I can't... and my biggest fear is that you (the dedicated listener) will get so annoyed by them that you'll tune out. But bear with the bad audio -- the interview is worth it, and it does get better just a few minutes in. (I think the last blip is at 8:50 and it's completely clear from that point forward. So if you can't manage to listen through the early noise, at least fast-forward to that point in the podcast and try again... though, without Mikael's background from the previous few minutes, the rest of the interview won't make nearly as much sense!) The only advantage of my little recording problem is that, after suffering through that audio mess, you won't notice the little "dit-dit-dit" teletype sound of audio interference deep inside my computer. (Hey, this "recording a telephone call" stuff is tricky!) What was going to be a 20 or 30 minute conversation with Mikael lasted more than an hour, so Part 2 of the interview will appear next week. If you have any thoughts/comments, be sure to call 206-339-3742 (206-339-ERIC) or e-mail eric at ericast.com!

Well, here's the punchline: Mikael Rudolph died a few months ago. So, to remember this mime and peace activist who I interviewed in 2006, we're going to re-run our 2006 interview with him in the coming weeks... As I mention in this week's podcast, the reality in this world is that "people die"... yet this story seems to have particularly sad ending as Mikael had successfully (?) battled one form of cancer only to have another (caused by the very medicine that cured him) take his life when he seemed so healthy and healed. I didn't have a chance to say goodbye (not that we were close enough that it would have mattered) and, in fact, hadn't seen or spoken with him since 2006... yet I still felt a connection to him. And since this podcast was the vehicle through which that connection was made/formed/developed, I thought it would be fitting to re-share his conversation. I quote in this episode: A Fond Farewell to Mikael Rudolph (warisacrime.org) Remembering Mikael of Impeach for Peace (impeachforpeace.org) Patriots for Corporate Rights! (corporaterights.org) See also: Mikael Rudolph, Activist & Mime, RIP (debra.worldcantwait.net) Mikael Rudolph Remembered (minnesotaplaylist.com) And from better days: Mime uses humor to put cancer in its place (fleshandstone.net) Share your memories of Mikael, comments on his interview on the Ericast, or other thoughts and opinions: 206-339-ERIC (a.k.a. 206-339-3742) or e-mail me (eric) at ericast.com.

Recorded on Friday -- I'm feeling much better now, thanks! -- this is an example of what happens when a cold goes bad. And, as I mention in the podcast, this isn't a fake voice; it really is "the new normal" when I get a cold like this. (And now that it's Sunday, I'm fairly normally "normal" again.) Pretty much the entire episode is tongue-in-cheek, so if we were able to all gather together and listen as a drunken group, we'd all be laughing hysterically. But that's not the case, so you're probably going to sit alone in your car or office (or home) and thing that this is really strange or sad. Nothing too deep or comment on... but if you want to say anything, call 296-339-3742 (a.k.a. 206-339-ERIC) or e-mail me (eric) at ericast.com.

In an episode that causes everyone to ask, "What kind of cold medicine is Eric on?!?" (answer: "none"... which might explain things?) we have a bold and brash return to the Ericast with a collection of listener feedback from the summer. Shouts out to Chad, Jonzer and Matt -- I've missed you guys! Glad to be back in the saddle here (metaphorically speaking). The occasional microphone pop and wind noise (sorry! poor placement!) and scratchy voice means that our brief hiatus didn't help us to improve our production values on the Ericast, but it did allow us to revitalize our use of the "majestic we" and refer to ourselves as plural as much as we can. Comments or future podcast topics or identification of obscure 1980s sitcom references should take the form of a quick phone call to 206-339-3742 (a.k.a. 206-339-ERIC) or, if necessary, an e-mail to me (eric) at ericast.com. Enjoy!

What happens when your podcaster has a problem with the tool he plans to use to help him make his podcast? Well... he makes a podcast about it. I had super-high hopes for VR+ from ShapeServices but ran into a teeny tiny problem: The recordings disappeared. That's not cool. I have no idea what happened to the files that it uploaded to imtransfer.im4mobile.com -- as of this writing, my first and second one are giving 404 errors but the third one (which I left unpublished) is fine. Weird. I'm not too demanding; I understand that technology isn't perfect. But when something just plain doesn't work (and there's nothing out there like a "Shape Services status blog" or such)... now what? So, I'm back to where I started from... unless I have better luck playing with this in the next couple of weeks... but at that point, what's the point in buying it if it just keeps on working in a "kinda-sorta okay" way? Comments? Ideas? 206-339-3742 (a.k.a. 206-339-ERIC) or e-mail me (eric) at ericast.com.

What am I doing this week? NOTHING! Or, "A LOT!" It depends on your perspective. I'm planning to hang out at home with the family. So, this week's episode is just a couple quick "reflections on life" plus a plea for the "silent majority" of you to check in and let me know you're out there. It's easy: Just a quick call to 206-339-3742 (a.k.a. 206-339-ERIC) or, if you insist, send an e-mail to me (eric) at ericast.com. Quote of the podcast: "It's like Foursquare, except verbal!" Links mentioned in this episode: http://www.mnbloggerconference.com/ at http://www.cocomsp.com/http://www.smbmsp.org/ at http://www.mnstatefair.org/http://www.wordcampmsp.org/http://www.boldpath.org/summit10

Another late episode and I'm taking this opportunity to talk about how we might avoid late episodes in the future... by asking you (the Ericast listener) to share ideas for a phone-to-podcast solution that 1) still exists and 2) might work for the Ericast... AudioBlogger.com worked great in 2005 but is gone (having been bought by Odeo.com, which is also gone -- at least at the moment)Gcast.com merged with GarageBand.com and GarageBand.com merged with iLike.com... and in the process, all of their phone-to-podcast offerings went awayGabcast.com went to a paid model -- not much cost to it, but still paid. Never used it more than the basic "play with it and check it out" level of experimentation.Cinch and AudioBoo seem like possible contenders?Drop.io has a phone-in offering (no security on the phone number and no way of knowing if you dialed the right one, which makes me uneasy...)Google Voice seemed like a logical option but I don't think there's an "automatic" way of getting the audio out of it -- voicemail isn't really the right solution for this kind of thing, anywayK7.net is outstanding for a listener feedback line or other voicemail option but it doesn't mail out MP3s (just WAV and some other non-MP3 format I forget at the moment) Also mentioned is iSpeech.org, which is a neat text-to-speech-to-podcast option... but I still have the "how do I merge these feeds together?" question (and it seems like it doesn't automatically update its audio podcast; you have to go to the site and "ping" your blog, which is an extra step that I'd like to avoid.) What are your thoughts/suggestions? You know the drill: 206-339-ERIC (a.k.a. 206-339-3742) or e-mail me (eric) at ericast.com. Thanks for listening! P.S. For those who don't get the SNL "Pete Twinkle" references that I make here and there in the podcast, here's a clip from Hulu... which I probably don't need to explain is not "work safe". (In this particular "Ladies Bowling" sketch they proudly and colorfully tout their sponsorship by Vagisil. You've been warned.)

A late one, yes indeed, but a conversation starter for us all: What are our strongly-held opinions/beliefs/preferences based on? Sometimes they're based on logically-argued principles, and the solution to that is to put those principles head-to-head and hash it out. But then... there are those opinions/beliefs/preferences that are based on an emotional connection to something. And that's okay. The point is, you can't argue against an emotionally-based preference by throwing more "data" at the emotion. Does that make any sense? Does it make more (or less) sense after listening to the podcast? Let me know -- 206-339-3742 (a.k.a. 206-339-ERIC) or e-mail me (eric) at ericast.com.