Curiously Punctuated (and Ready) ~ Beat Sushi with Jason Emde
Spontaneous riffs and readings from world rambling renegade letter writer with a new master’s thesis, Jason Emde who, as it goes from his home in Gifu also makes a podcast called “writers read their early sh!t”.
oh Hi, let’s try on hats and listen to records
From the Kura barn studio, Dave meanders about Japan geography and “things not done” and hat selections for Kyoto before reading Jason’s letter to Molly, then rambles on about similarities in geography, points of view, adventures whilst recounting how he came across Jason’s work stretching over a decade or more (and including naval officer Bob), oh then 2 freeverse poems (after Gary Snyder) with Jason’s streams about “usual days” in Gifu and Vernon.
Beat Sushi with Jason Emde at daveostory (art by Ichiro Stanley)
Plus name checks for James Joyce’s Ulysses, Christopher Trottier, Marshall McLuhan, Ken Babbs, Ken Bole, music bits from Bachman Turner Overdrive Live at Budokon, John K Samson (of The Weakerthans etc), hooray for ampersands and em-dashes! Also Amsterdam, London, Vancouver, Bali and most points in between, except Africa, haven’t gone there.
“Physically, I’m 38, my liver’s 78, and maturity, probably 23-24.”
This is Engineering Undergraduate Society President Dan Olson’s response when I ask him about his age. He may be older than your average undergraduate, but that doesn’t mean he’s had any trouble keeping up with the rest of the student society he runs. “Really, it’s a trick for them to keep up with me,” he says.
His first crack at university began in 1991, as a bright-eyed pre-med student at Utah State University. But after three years of studying biochemistry, Olson decided he needed some time off.
“I realized I’d been going to school so long that I wanted a break, so I was going to take one year off and then finish up and go right to med school,” said Olson.
His respite from the academic grind wound up taking him him from pre-med to Deadhead. “For a few years, I travelled and followed the Grateful Dead,” said Olson.
“I lived out of my Volkswagen van most of the time, but there’d always be a pretty bustling parking lot scene. So I could sell grilled cheese sandwiches or beer out of a cooler. You’d actually make enough money that you could buy a ticket and get gas money to the next city.
“Then Jerry Garcia died, so I went and lived in Austria for a couple years,” said Olson. “I was involved in a lot of service projects…Building houses, and things like that.”
Next Olson returned to the United States, and was met with another stroke of luck.
“My brother and some of his friends went to Olympia, Washington and started an internet service provider,” said Olson.
“As part of the dot-com boom, we got bought out by a big [telecommunications] company out of California, so I kind of went into semi-retirement for three or four years with my stock options and severance pay.
“When that money ran out, I realized if I was ever going to go back to school, I should do it now.”
No longer interested in medicine, Olson decided to give engineering a try. “My oldest brother went through UBC engineering; he graduated in 2002,” said Olson with trademark confidence. “I figured if he could do it, I was way better at math and science, so I should have no problem.”
Olson has held two positions on the EUS, last year as VP External and this year as president. He credits UBC engineers’ legendary school spirit to strong ties with alumni. Olson plans to continue being involved here after he graduates in May.
“The alumni like to come back and tell stories of the pranks they were pulling off, and how things were back in the day.”
Olson doesn’t admit to any involvement in any of the UBC engineers’ famous “stunts,” however, which in past years have included hanging a Volkswagen Beetle off of the Lions Gate Bridge.
“I’ve actually not been involved in any of the pranks…We just kind of hear about them the next day, and hopefully they’re creative and don’t involve too much vandalism.”
Olson is has been preparing for E-Week, the EUS’s yearly celebration, taking place this week. When asked what event he was most excited about, he almost didn’t know where to start.
The week’s most anticipated events, in Olson’s mind, are probably the E-Ball, a formal dance ending the week, and Red Night, a “ridiculous” party at the Cheeze.
“It’s the big party for E-Week, and if you’re wearing your red jacket, red cardigan, or one of the E-Week 2012 shirts, you end up getting [lots of] cheap beer.”
Red Night may pose an opportunity for Olson to show off one of his best-known skills: his ability to polish off an entire pitcher of beer at frightening speed.
“Just under 12 seconds,” bragged Olson. “Somehow, I have a great natural ability to drink very fast.”
Basically, I outlined various traits and skills about leadership – most of which i’ve exercised at my day job – and explained scenarios from past adventures which taught (or allowed me to practice) these skills.
For example: Patience while arriving in Japan learning no language, or the importance of escape plan when confronted with an un-savory ride.
This construct allowed me to share the lost years of roaming and experiment with some new metaphors.
In all, some fun storytelling to a full room (off-mic and off page). I’ll compile the Twitter (great) feedback eventually, but here are a few key artifacts so far:
1) The slide deck featuring photos of hitchhiking signs from journeys past as well as anecdotal snaps
2) An article from the Vancouver Sun which i’ll liberally excerpt from for the preservation of the record.
Slide Deck
Notes
Vancouver Sun Article
Note 2 alternate versions: Bringing a good idea to fruition and Everyone can be a leader By Jenny Lee, Vancouver Sun January 8, 2011 Dave Olson community director of Vancouver technology company, Hootsuite, says leadership skills are best learned when you’re out of your comfort zone. Photograph by: Jason Payne, Vancouver Sun
Conference speaker Dave Olson, who is community director of Hootsuite, a young local technology company, believes that leadership is learned by getting out of one’s comfort zone both pysically and mentally.
Leadership in fast-paced technological world is all about teamwork and camaraderie. Leaders must learn to trust, delegate, experiment and refine, he said.
“A lot of the things we experience living an adventurous life teaches us practical skills when leading fast paced groups,” Olson said. For Olson, that meant travelling. “Other people can learn the same feeling of openness when volunteering to work with handicapped kids one summer. For me, I learned about openness by sticking out my thumb.”
At Hootsuite everyone works in one big room and “everyone’s opinion is valid,” Olson said. “There are not a bunch of egos. We cross over and share skills across the department.
“You definitely have to cultivate that atmosphere,” Olson added. “You have to have something that brings that to life. [And] it starts top down.”
On Remembrance Day in sunny, brisk Vancouver, Ian Bell (fresh from a CBC appearance “On The Coast“) joins Dave to read from Grandpa Mark’s diaries written in the trenches in WW1 as a young Canadian. From the library steps with a flask of scotch, they reflect on the costs and motivations of war, importance of friendship and the ethereal experience of going “over the top” and facing the terror on the other side, plus anecdotes about capturing Germans soldiers and discourse on the importance of personal documentation to pass forward to generations.
At UBC Remembrance Day ceremony – a bit too much bible for me but love bagpipers! I also remember resisters, underground fighters, peaceniks & civilians
We visited Wreck Beach with clothes intact afterwards.
Mobile Non-Profit Campaigns and Projects with Dave Olson and Roland Tanglao at Workspace in Gastown, Vancouver (photo credit = unknown)
Mobile technology can change the world – or help people express themselves with art and community. Roland Tanglao discusses an assortment of mobile-themed projects andopen-source technology initiatives undertaken by Raincity Studios and partners – primarily in context of enriching Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside neighbourhood, engaging Whistler’s transitory residents, and enlivening Vancouver Art Gallery’s FUSE program, plus providing tools to cultural animators in divergent communities.
Mobile technology can change the world – or at least help people express themselves with art and improve safety too. Raincity Studios’ Support Services Coordinator and digital experimentalist, Roland Tanglao discuss an assortment of mobile-themed projects and initiatives with host DaveO including:
Open Source Culture – Dave Olson (with mic) with developers Zak Greant and Darid Ashcer, by Boris Mann via Flick (cc)
Open Source Culture – photo of Zak Great and Darid Achser by Boris Mann via Flick (cc)With the eLiberatica conference in Bucharest, Romania {see also: eLiberatica 2008 in Romania – The benefits of Open and Free Technologies} approaching, Raincity Radio host DaveO, along with Boris Mann, sit down with two noteworthy presenters, Zak Greant and David Ascher, to discuss the importance of open source in emerging economies, various Mozilla Foundation projects (including MoFo, MoCo, MoMo), plus a casual conversation about OS community building and management, Romanian cuisine, prawn fishing, and developer culture in Europe and Vancouver.
