Ericast.com Podcast - DWEEB THOUGHTS

I didn’t expect this past weekend to have as much activity

as it did… but thanks to one little re-tweet, I found myself in the middle of a

protest I wasn’t at and a controversy I didn’t start thanks to a media that

doesn’t understand how Twitter works. Looking for what’s probably my most

controversial episode ever?  Here’s your

show.

Website viewers: Click here to listen to this week's episode!

Podcast listeners: Click here for a link to the show notes page!

Everyone: Call 206-339-ERIC (206-339-3742) and comment!

I really don’t want to do this show, but I really need

to.  This is a rare episode where it’s

scripted; we’ll see if I stick with that. 

But writing this has been really cathartic.  Hang in there, give me a little extra grace,

and make sure you call 206-339-3742 (a.k.a. 206-339-ERIC) with your thoughts

and reactions.   The conversation isn’t

over.

This, by the way, is not

a “work-safe, child-safe” podcast episode, unless you want to be explaining a

lot to your kids and colleagues.  So, put

on your headphones.

First, a little background. 

What you don’t know about me is that, as a kid, I was a huge anti-war protester.  At least, as huge as you can

get as a scrawny 11-year-old.  And if you’re

younger than I am, this will sound strange, because you don’t understand what

it was like to live under the very real threat of nuclear annihilation by the

Soviet Union triggered by selfish war-mongering hawk of a Republican like

Ronald Reagan.  At least, that’s how I

would’ve summarized it at the time.  So,

I’m no stranger to protests, and to protests of the same political wing as

Black Lives Matter.

And, today I hold a politically impossible philosophy

position of a “universal life ethic” – I don’t think people should intentionally

kill people.  Not via abortion, not via

the death penalty.  I think there are

cases where it’s excused, and that’s different from calling it justified.  And that’s a topic for another podcast

episode.

So, I understand the slogan and the hashtag of “Black Lives

Matter” and I don’t think it’s helpful to be belligerent and say, “No, all

lives matter.”  Yes, all lives

matter.  But in the same way, when I talk

about the effects of legalized abortion on demand in this country, I don’t

think it’s a reasonable counter-argument to say, “Don’t you care about the

children who are already born?”  Yes, I

do care.  But it’s not legal to kill

them.  So the more pressing discussion at

hand is abortion.  I think that’s a fair

distinction.  And in the same way, since

there’s a concern in this country over crime and punishment and police response

to people of color, I have no problem with “Black Lives Matter” and I don’t

hear that as saying, “To the exclusion of every other life.”

In Minnesota, we have the Minnesota State Fair, and if you’re

not from around here, it’s a really really really big deal.  We’ve joked about the few days of summer we

have, but “the great Minnesota get-together” is sort of the “last hurrah” of

Summer.  Local Black Lives Matters

leaders – and we could argue about who “leads” what, but let’s go with it –

announced that they were going to have a march and protest down the main traffic

artery around the fairgrounds on Saturday the 29th, which is a

really big day for the Fair.

So, we’re not going to talk about whether that protest

timing is good, bad or indifferent – just that it’s a fact, and it was a big

deal.  Plenty of news stories covered it,

if you’re not from around here and want to dig up the details.

I’m working around the house last Saturday when Twitter

starts lighting up about the protest, and I love the concept of “citizen

journalism” – getting a different picture of an event.  Not necessarily more accurate or more

complete than what might be represented in the traditional “mainstream media”

but another piece of the puzzle.

The first thing I saw was a video clip of protesters

chanting, “Turn up! Don’t turn down! We’re doing this for Mike Brown!”  Now, with a wife who’s a high-school teacher,

I’ve heard that the phrase “turn up” is used. 

And in every context I’ve ever heard, it doesn’t simply mean, “Let’s

appear! Let’s show up at an event!”  But

I honestly had no idea if the “getting turned up” drug reference is a common

one or intended by the protesters – it caught my ear, so I tweeted that out,

and nobody said anything.  That was 1:38

p.m. on Saturday, August 29.

About an hour later, I was looking through the #BlackFair

hash tag, and I caught a phrase that seemed pretty shocking.  It was a tweet from MrNikoG, and it read “Pigs

in a blanket, Fry em like bacon” Hashtags BlackFair, BlackLivesMatter, FTP,

ACAB.  I have no idea what ACAB is and I

haven’t looked it up.  FTP doesn’t stand

for File Transfer Protocol, nor does it stand for “Friend the Police”.

The video clip showed protesters standing behind a banner,

just like I did in my Kids for Peace days. 

And I thought, “Are they really saying that?  What’s the context?”  So I played the video.  They’re marching.  They’re yelling.  And the camera pans left to show… that they’re

at the front of the march, and it’s being led by squad cars – and a weird

little golf cart truck thing.  I played

it back from the beginning to make sure it really was from our State Fair, and

it sure was – the fair buildings are in the background (there are a couple identifiable

towers) and I immediately knew that they were walking south on Snelling Avenue.

I thought the story wasn’t the chant itself, but that they’re

chanting it directly at the police officers in front of them who are escorting

down a pretty major road – it’s four lanes plus on/off ramps in that vicinity.

So rather than just a re-tweet, I did an “MT” – modified tweet.  I removed all but the “BlackFair” tag to give

room to comment (and because I figured that was the most relevant tag… but that

made it “modified” rather than a pure “RT”) and I added four words that I

thought very, very carefully about.

As.  Like, “while.” At the time.  Emphasizing that the video, if anyone

bothered to watch, shows “this is being said right now”

Police.  I thought about “St. Paul police” but I don’t

know if they’re from St. Paul or brought in from another jurisdiction.  And maybe they’re sheriffs or something.  But “police” is generic enough; “cops” is

shorter but carries an informal connotation.

Escort.  Like “lead” but they’re not leading or directing

it.  And they’re not just present by

happenstance; they’re clearly there in a coordinated effort, which also

indicates that this isn’t a random collection of yelling people but an

organized group.  And it’s present tense –

I was tweeting it as it happened, so it wasn’t “escorted”.  The escort is happening right now.

Protest.  I thought about “protesters” but that implies

they’re escorting individual protesters, maybe against their will.  They weren’t directing individuals; they were

at the front of a group event.

As of this recording, that tweet has gotten 107 re-tweets and

29 favorites.  And lots and lots of

replies.

First four reactions: A re-tweet with “Make it stop”.  A re-tweet with “chant to kill police along

the march led by white people”.  (Which I

think the people of color leading the march would take offense to; they’re

pretty identifiable and, no, they don’t consider themselves “white” according

to their twitter accounts.)  Then Kate

replied with “Oh. My. God.”  Then “Win

The War On Math” tweeted, “This chant is obviously anti-cop and islamophobic!

Delicious pork imagery is Hate Speech!”

I figured it would end right about there.  It didn’t.

At some point the flood of commentary got more intense and I

realizes I must’ve been picked up by somewhere. 

That was the DailyCaller.com on Saturday evening.  So, then, people started re-posting that

story.

Breitbart went back to the original source, since all I did

was retweet the video.  Nobody else did.

Nobody, including WCCO television. 

So when my Dad sent me a message on Sunday night at 10:12 pm that said, “I

am watching Channel 4’s 10 p.m. newscast and several times as a video was being

show, I saw: Credit Eric M. Larson”… 

well, I harked back to the famous words of Kate.  Oh.  My. God..

I went to the WCCO website and, yup, there it was.  Interesting news story, covered both angles,

police are upset, protest leaders are unapologetic, and there in the corner

every time they play the video is “Credit: Eric M. Larson”

You’ll find in my twitter history that I spent a good chunk

of the evening tweeting (and directly reaching out via Facebook messaging to a

producer I know there) to explain that “MT” is a modified re-tweet; the video

isn’t mine.

And before you think I regret that the video went viral, I totally

don’t – news is news, facts are facts, and 19 seconds of footage (where the

videographer was good enough to turn around and give the context) tells a

story. But I don’t get credit for capturing the story.  It wasn’t my story.  It was someone else’s story.  He or she – I assume it’s a he – shared

it.  I pointed out that he shared it, and

put some pretty useful text on the front to clarify what story was being told

(because you wouldn’t know that from the thumbnail of the video.)  That’s it.

So, what have we learned here?

1) Citizen Journalism is powerful.

2) As I tell my girls, always think about what’s around and

behind the camera lens, outside of the frame.

3) Words have power.

4) Context is everything. 

The way this video was shot gave some context that the other

dramatically framed photographs of the march didn’t.  Yet this video didn’t get the whole context

of a four-hour march.  In philosophical

terms, I think that understanding this rhetoric and scene is necessary but not

sufficient for understanding what this march and this movement is about.

5) In the court of public opinion, these protesters can’t

win, and neither can the police.

Here’s the deal.  The

cops on the scene are quoted as having said two things:  “This is what democracy looks like”.  And, “Everybody likes bacon. We can all get

behind that!”  One is serious and, we

assume, was said with a since tone (not an incredulous or exasperated

one).  The other is funny – maybe offensive

to those who don’t eat pork, but probably not. 

Cops are trained to deescalate situations, and good cops do that.  That’s what you see here.  Whipping out your weapon of choice because

someone insults you is wrong, and it’s bad PR, and I suspect these guys hear

much, much worse on a typical beat.

But then you have WCCO seeking a comment.  And what are they supposed to say?  “Well, these kids, they get whipped up about

stuff and they don’t know what they’re saying? 

Let ‘em mature a bit and they’re realize that the world isn’t as

clear-cut as they think it is now.”  That’s

not going to work.

So they say it’s offensive. 

Because it’s offensive!  It

is!  This isn’t a chant of “Most cops are

good; let’s make sure the bad ones are brought to justice!”  First of all, that has no rhyme or cadence,

and second, that’s not the protesters’ point!

Now you have the protesters saying, “Look, it was just one

chant.  It’s no big deal.  It’s just words.”  But the entire foundation of civilized

society is that words have meaning.  Yes,

you have the right to free speech and free expression.  But when you freely express an idea, you need

to be prepared for people to say, “I think that idea is wrong.”

So you have protesters who are either naive kids who don’t

know what they’re saying, or evil people trying to undermine society and murder

police (apparently bankrolled by George Soros, according to the tweets I was

getting.)

This isn’t a happy situation.

So, where does society go from here?  Is there a “white privilege”?  I’m sure there is.  Will I ever know? Probably not; I’m not going

to be the next John Howard Griffin and if you don’t know him, you need to read

his book like I did when I was 12 or 13. 

Why was I re-tweeted, when “MrNikoG” whose full Twitter name is “EMPATHY”

with the anarchist circle-A in the middle, wasn’t?  Part of it was those four words of context – “As

police escort protest.”  Part of it

probably was that I had a name, a face, a website. (I haven’t looked at the

stats, and good luck to anyone who dug around in it, since it’s really out of

date.)  And do I have those things out

there because I “know the system” or because I have “nothing to fear”?  I don’t know. 

It’s just who I am.  If I have a

problem with my front door and my neighbors see me and a stranger trying to

break it open… well, they know me, so they probably wouldn’t call the

police.  But if they did, and the police

came to the door and told me they were investigating a break-in, my response

wouldn’t be, “Why, because I'm a black man in America?” …because I’m not.  And, because I don’t have any experiences that

would cause me to think of responding with belligerence toward police.  Maybe if I did, I would.  And if they asked for proof that this really

was my house, I’d say, “Hang on; let me grab my license.  Even without the beard it still looks like

me.”  And if I got belligerent and

argumentative, which the 9-1-1 tapes of the Henry Lewis Gates arrest document, I

might expect to be arrested.  And if I

were arrested, I don’t think any president would bother to comment, let alone

say “The police acted stupidly.”

What I do know is that our race issues in this country didn’t

start with the current presidential administration and ended with a beer summit

at the White House.  But at the time,

Gates said,

“My entire academic career has been based on improving race

relations, not exacerbating them. I am hopeful that my experience will lead to

greater sensitivity to issues of racial profiling in the criminal justice

system."

And then he called the cop a pig and said he should fry like

bacon.

No! No!  He didn’t do

that.  Because that’s not the kind of

dialog we want to encourage.  Is it?

Let me know what you think. 

Call 206-339-3742 and leave a message.

My 11th birthday featuring a "Kids for Peace" cake with my KFP logo

Trial run of the KFP banner (Medium: Sharpie on cotton)

Leading the "Mother's Day March for Peace and Justice" (Minneapolis, 1985)

End of the march. (I'm in the purple Vikings jacket)

 

Post-march interview with WTCN-11 (now KARE-11)

It's not really "podfading" if you come back, right? Let's see what I can publish tonight. Here's your show.

Website viewers: Click here to listen to this week's episode!

Podcast listeners: Click here for a link to the show notes page!

Everyone: Call 206-339-ERIC (206-339-3742) and comment!

I love Mark Mason and his Late Night Internet Marketing... but I don't want to be him.  His last episode was in April.  If it were an "I'm finishing the show" episode, that would be one thing... but it wasn't.

Want to share a comment of your own?  Call 206-339-3724 (a.k.a. 206-339-ERIC) and let me know what you think.  Or tell me why my prescription hasn't been delivered.

I was on vacation - a good old fashioned American roadtrip. So this podcast episode is basically a travelog of the random highlights. Curious? Here's your show.

Website viewers: Click here to listen to this week's episode!

Podcast listeners: Click here for a link to the show notes page!

Everyone: Call 206-339-ERIC (206-339-3742) and comment!

Growing up, I didn't travel outside of Minnesota and Wisconsin. I did "Study Abroad" in Iowa and crossed to Illinois while visiting Dubuque, and did a side-trip to Thunder Bay, Canada while on a ski trip with Ruth and some of her friends. That is, until the RV road trip to Yellowstone through South Dakota, Wyoming, and touched just a bit of Montana.

So, that's what the family road trip was this year.  On the way out to Rapid City we encountered Rushmore Shadows - $39.95 for two nights in a "cabin" (single-wide 1/2 length).  Bear in mind that when we were first married, Ruth and I did time-share presentations for sport.  90 minutes was actually two hours, which threw a kink in our schedule, but that's part of the game.  Their offer is a great deal for someone; just not us.

Highlights:

Is there a difference between recognition that you did something, and recognition that you're equipped to do something?  Here's your show.

Website viewers: Click here to listen to this week's episode!

Podcast listeners: Click here for a link to the show notes page!

Everyone: Call 206-339-ERIC (206-339-3742) and comment!

Yes, I realize I have lots of "vs" episodes, but "differentiation is good".  However, lawyers speak of a "distinction without a difference" so we have to make sure that we're not doing that.  And I don't think that's the case here.

We were talking about faculty motivation.  Tangent: I don't view "motivation" as having connotations of a deficit, but some do.

Badges vs. Awards.  In Eric's world...

Badging is a hot topic in academic technology:

http://www.techlearning.com/news/0002/theres-a-badge-for-that/63725

https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/technology-and-learning/value-problem-digital-badging

Jeff Sanders had a great blog post entitled "How Playing an iPhone Game Made Me More Productive" and in it he summarized the key points of the Bunchball article, "What Is Gamification?"

Even here, note that "Badges" are equivocated with "Awards" and I think there's a difference.  The Bunchball summary is:

Badges: Evidence of accomplishments

An indicator of accomplishment or mastery of a skill is especially

meaningful within a community that understands its value. Often used to

identify skills and expertise within a group.

Again, while "mastery of a skill" is more "beneficial" to the community than merely commemorating an accomplishment, I think that we need to be clear that a "badge" means that you can and should act to improve your community with the skills you've acquired, and should be respected for those actions -- not merely for your accomplishments in the past.

Thoughts?  Call 206-339-3742 and let me know what you think.

"My purpose is to provide for my family!"  That sounds good.  But I'm not sure it's right. Intrigued?  Here's your show.

Website viewers: Click here to listen to this week's episode!

Podcast listeners: Click here for a link to the show notes page!

Everyone: Call 206-339-ERIC (206-339-3742) and comment!

Yes, I'm way behind each week, but I'm putting this in last week's queue, under-the-wire. Hang in there with me!

So....  What's my "purpose"?  Here's a quote:  "My purpose isn't to provide for my family. Insurance can do that."

(That was stolen from someone.  I hope you can tell me who!)

Here's the point: What are you uniquely qualified or positioned to do?

And... How do you evaluate that?

Could you just as easily say, "My purpose isn't to be a role model for my kids; the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization can do that!"

Sure, the question/framework isn't perfect.  But it's useful to break out of the mold.

By the way, I have an Evernote process.  But it failed me here.  I felt bad about this kind of thing until P. Desmond Adams said the same thing happened to him.  So, nobody's note-taking or memory is perfect.  Moving on...

Speaking of, check out "Hours" for time-tracking on iOS.  Free for a limited time!

Have you ever run in to a situation where you know something really important, and you're trying to convince someone - boss, family member, whatever -- that they really need to step up and pay attention to that issue?  Here's your show.

Website viewers: Click here to listen to this week's episode!

Podcast listeners: Click here for a link to the show notes page!

Everyone: Call 206-339-ERIC (206-339-3742) and comment!

Aside:  I love doing this show.  Studio A moved over the years… but the feeling of sitting down in front of the computer and recording an episode?  I love it.  It's work, but I'm a happier person every time I do it.

Despite the show title, people do care; we close this show with a call from listener Chad, renewing the old tradition of "listener feedback in the last episode of the month".

But that didn't motivate me; it was the thought that P. Desmond Adams from the once weekly Mental Mastery Moment, now daily podcast series might listen.

May has been a busy month - when you work in higher-ed and your spouse teaches High School, that kind of thing happens.  There’s been a transition at work with a new CIO (the vice president of technology; Chief Information Officer is our industry term) which is why I kept running into "Listener Chad".

And it was there that I was talking to another colleague, explaining this upcoming episode and noting it had nothing to do with work.

Those who know me know that if I have an example, it's coming from Work or Church. Those are my two “leadership circles".  And this one doesn't come from work. Draw your own conclusions from that.

Caveat: Pondering this episode is like parenting, in that I can't dump 30 years’ worth of knowledge into the girls' heads.  And I've told Candela and Chloe that directly, because that's how I roll.  I know what I know because I learned it by personal experience.  Learning from others' personal experience is great -- it's what all "education" is based on.  But I worry that it might short-circuit the learning process.

So I say now that I wish someone had explained this to me -- that podcasts had been invented 15 years ago and I had listened to this one from someone else.  But now I'm that someone else, giving this message having learned it personally, and that might not have happened otherwise.

The topic:  Not everyone has your passionate about an organization’s need.

That's reality.

Reasons: They don't understand. Or, they understand but don't care as much as you do. Throwing more data won't solve issue #2

Caveat: Is it a moral or safety issue? (Be honest; is it really?)  If so, then you need to keep working ad making sure the right thing happens.  But is it, really?  Really?

So, this is an episode encouraging mental stability, and letting go of the fight when you need to.  But if everyone in the your organization jumps to the casual acceptance, that's bad too.  Fight, but fight while accepting reality... maybe?

There's living in the past. Then there's living for the future. Somewhere between those is living in the moment.  But I think they all weave together. Wonder how?  So do I.  Here's your show.

Website viewers: Click here to listen to this week's episode!

Podcast listeners: Click here for a link to the show notes page!

Everyone: Call 206-339-ERIC (206-339-3742) and comment!

Part of me wants to live in the past.  Part of me wants to archive everything for the future.  Part of me wants to celebrate the concept of "mindfulness" and live in the moment.  How do we hold all those things together?

As a tangent off an already disjointed collection of reflections, how do we embrace/explore the concept of people outside of a particular generation adopting it as their own passion?  I think the late 1930s (epitomized by the New York World's Fair) is a fascinating example of the U.S. coming out of the Great Depression, on the brink of another world war, but (apparently) optimistic for the future.  Yet I wasn't alive in the 1930s. (My parents barely were.) In this episode we mention a young woman (I consider her "young," perhaps in part because I'm getting old) who has adopted the 1980s cyberpunk persona even though she was in single-digits at the time. My 1980s reminiscing, at least, is based in a reality I personally experienced. There's nothing wrong with either one, but they're different from each other.

More than usual, I'd love your commentary on this one.  Call 206-339-3742 and give me some thoughts, and we'll work off of those in upcoming episodes.

"I wanna know what you're thinking."  That's not just a reminder that we're doing a collaborative podcast here. For a certain generation - mine - that's a kind of anthem.  And 30 years later it's just as real as it was in the 1980s.  Recognize it? Here's your show.

Website viewers: Click here to listen to this week's episode!

Podcast listeners: Click here for a link to the show notes page!

Everyone: Call 206-339-ERIC (206-339-3742) and comment!

I'm not much of a concert person... but when the chance to re-live key 1980s memories comes along, you take it.  ("When you see a chance, take it.."  Wait.  Wrong artist.)  So this podcast touches on the experience of seeing Information Society back in their hometown this year.  Can you relate?  Or not?  Give a call (or reach out in other ways - I'm easy to find) and let me know what you think.

I'm back!  Where'd I go? I was fulfilling a near-lifelong dream. Wonder what it was? Here's your show.

Website viewers: Click here to listen to this week's episode!

Podcast listeners: Click here for a link to the show notes page!

Everyone: Call 206-339-ERIC (206-339-3742) and comment!

So much for the good regular show-habit... but there's a good reason.

When I was a kid I was a huge Road Runner cartoon fan; I loved the background scenery. So, for years, I've wanted to get down to the desert southwest and see if for myself. I decided this was the year: Stop dreaming and start doing!

Ruth is back to teaching, in our same school district, so she and the girls have the same break. But, "break" for teachers doesn't mean "do nothing."

So, how about a June road-trip, rather than to do Duluth?  But "Desert in Late March" is different from "Desert in Late June"

So, how about I hop a cheap flight to Vegas and drive north to scout it out?  Good idea... and once you get a hotel and rent a car and are buying meals... for just the cost of one more plane ticket I could add Candela.

So that's what I did.  It was spectacular.

Sunday night it snowed in St. Paul -- 6" or 7".  (We needed the moisture in the ground!)

Monday: Take off around 7:45 a.m., land at 9:00-something, get a car, stop at McDonalds, and head north!

Virgin River gorge at the Arizona border - wow!

Zion - shuttle buses because it's already the start of the busy season there

Tuesday: Back into Zion, then out of Zion, north to Bryce Canyon

Tuesday night: Astronomy!

Wednesday: Bryce Canyon itself. The surrounding area looks like northern Minnesota.  (It's here that Candela goes "splat" on her knee while admiring the view like I told her to.)

Thursday: Out through Red Canyon, north end of Zion, St. George (tabernacle, temple, petroglyphs)

Thursday night: Mesquite (and big comfy waterproof band-aids). Outdoor hot tub

Friday: Out through Valley of Fire, a depressing Lake Mead, a few blocks of the strip

Early to the airport thanks to quick rental car return and TSA-pre treatment for some reason

Rented a locker and wandered the terminal to kill time

Flight home at 11:55 p.m.  Candela managed to sleep a bit, but was asleep for the initial descent and hosed her ears

Picked up around 5:30 a.m. Saturday

Home to sleep, then off to the circus at 2:30 p.m.

Conclusions: Utah and Nevada (and Arizona) are beautiful.  But so is Minnesota, in a different way.

Want to see the photos?  Here's the entire vacation album of Eric and Candela's 2015 Utah Trip...

Have you ever misheard a song lyric? Sure you have. Can you turn that into an entire podcast episode? Let's find out.  Here's your show.

Website viewers: Click here to listen to this week's episode!

Podcast listeners: Click here for a link to the show notes page!

Everyone: Call 206-339-ERIC (206-339-3742) and comment!

When is our birthday?  The first Ericast episode was March 7, 2005. So it's this week, or next. When you're this old, forgetting when your birthday is could be a "theme."  Next week might be a fairly deep-ish topic on "arrogance" lining up with Episode 2; we'll see.

Background:  I like "dance music" -- e.g. Ace of Base. (On Pandora, it's epitomized in my "Ace of Base Radio")  But my current Pandora favorite is Basshunter.  (Note that it's pronounced Base-hunter; it's not music related to fishing.)

"Tweets do not imply endorsement"...?  Pandora stations are somewhat the same for me.  But I can endorse these: My oldest is "Eric's Dance Radio" and you can also enjoy "Eric's WI Memories" from "the golden age of dance music - 1990, give or take a year or two."

So, that explains the music part.  You also need to know that when my wife and I were first married, we had a pet hamster.  (More than one, actually. But not at once.)

This episode topic crossed my mind.  And then I mentioned our hamster piterest in Jeff Goins' MOOC.  And then Paul Debeddings mentioned hamsters:

That clinches it.  I needed to do a podcast episode about this.

So, that brings us to "Paradise" by Sam La More, originally from Sydney Austraila. (He's almost exactly one year younger than I am, which means he's old.)

I know he's not talking about hamsters... but, you have to admit, it sure sounds like he's talking about hamsters!