It’s been a while since I interviewed Eric3579 for this post, so I send out sincerest apologies to him and to those folks who may have been waiting to hear about him, for my lateness in publishing this.


Even though it was a few months ago that we chatted, the conversation remains indelibly etched in my brain, because of the cool stuff I learnt about one of the Sift’s top members.


Eric has some surprising talents and I was left with a very strong impression of an extremely creative and free-spirited guy, with a love of art and adventure.


I will be traveling to San Fancisco in late June this year and I really hope to catch up with him there, to meet the man in-person. I’d therefore like to take the opportunity to extend a warm invitation to any members who’d like to make a Sift-up of it and get together. If you haven’t met Eric already, I would suggest that a trip to do so, would be well worth it.


So, what are the talents I am talking about here? Try this for starters:


Eric may or may not own a car (I didn’t verify that fact with him), but it is obvious that his preferred mode of transport around town is his electric skateboard and since this is coupled with the fact that he is at least 37 years old, I view this as a clear statement about his approach to life.


Persephone: How was your day?



Eric: It's been a good day. I rode my skateboard all over town.



Persephone: Cool. Is it easy to get around on skateboard?


Eric: I have an electric skateboard that goes 20 MPH so it makes it very easy.



Persephone: You're in SF no?



Eric: San Jose, which is about 45 minutes south of SF.


Persephone: Is it hilly like SF?


Eric: No it's pretty flat.


Persephone: Would your skateboard make the hills in SF?



Eric: It would, but it would be slow going and run the batteries down quickly.



So I’m thinking that if he travels like this often, that he has probably mastered the art of traveling light. I just couldn’t picture him loaded up with a heavy briefcase, or a big bag of golf clubs or anything like that.


It turns out that if he gets himself to a golf course, the only thing he would be armed with is a Frisbee, since he has a great passion for disk-golf. He posted this video about it, if you’re wondering like I did, ‘What the heck is disk-golf?’.


Anyway, his adventure-loving nature is revealed all the more, when he describes one of the ways he earns a buck:




Persephone: Is your day job creative?


Eric: No, for the last few years I have played poker.


Persephone: Online? You must be good, for it to make you a living.


Eric: Some online and also the poker clubs. I do good enough to get by.


Persephone: Wow. Are you like Matt Damon in, what's the name of that movie?



Eric: Rounders?



Persephone: Yep, that’s it.


Eric: Not quite that good, maybe one day you'll see me on TV playing with the big boys. Fat chance.


Persephone: Have you encountered the seedy/scary side of poker?



Eric: No. It's a little seedy at times but never scary.



Persephone: Any dirty tricks people play in poker?


Eric: I've never encountered cheaters, but I know they exist.


Persephone: Do you go to Vegas often? Is that where the big money is?


Eric: I go once every few years, but I don't gamble when I'm there. Casinos are a losing proposition.


Persephone: Is there a poker community you feel like you belong to, or is it a loner profession?


Eric: You see the same faces a lot, but I can't say I have made any friends through poker. I guess it is a loner profession.


So you’re starting to form a picture in your mind, right? Eric’s zipping along on his skateboard, going from games of disk-golf to poker matches around town and it makes you wonder, what does this guy do for a thrill?


It seems he’s an outdoor-type and the love he has for the place where he grew up, is obvious in this answer:



Persephone: So what else do you like to do in your spare time?


Eric: Play online poker, go bowling, hiking, riding my mountain bike. I really like outdoor activities, of course when I'm not sifting...


Persephone: Where are your favourite hiking trails?


Eric: Castle Rock and Alum Rock park where we just had an earthquake a few days ago.



Persephone: Did you feel it?


Eric: Yeah it was huge. 5.6 magnitude and the epicenter was 5 miles away.


Persephone: Shit! I suppose you know the evacuation drill?



Eric: I've lived here most of my life so I just sit back and enjoy the ride.


Persephone: Does living in an earthquake zone engender a certain laid-back approach to disaster?


Eric: I've never experienced a disaster, so maybe that's why.


Persephone: In Japan, we noticed people's attitudes were pretty calm, or fateful, like, ‘that's life’, even amidst disaster.


Eric: Most of the earthquakes are over before you can even react.



Persephone: Were you born in SJ?


Eric: I was born in Stockton, California. I've live in San Jose for 37 years.


Persephone: Would you ever consider moving to somewhere like NV to live?


Eric: I can't imagine living anywhere besides the west coast. It's something about the weather.



Aside from the great outdoors, it is also pretty clear that something Eric loves a lot, what he has a great passion for, is connecting with other creative types and making cool stuff with them. Visitors to his profile page would have seen various scenes from Burning Man depicted there. Here’s what he says about that annual event held in Nevada:



Persephone: Is it the carnival atmosphere that attracts you to Burning Man?


Eric: I go there for the community of people with no inhibitions, the art, the self expression, and building things.



Persephone: Is it pretty much the same core of people each year?


Eric: Most people who go once end up coming back with new people. This year there were about 40,000 people and it grows by about 5,000 people a year.


Persephone: Wow. Do you ever meet up with any of the people at a setting outside of Burning Man?


Eric: Many of my good friends go each year. There are also events year round in SF that we go to. It's an all-year cycle. Once you get back you’re already planning for the next year.



Persephone: Do you think you feel most at-home in a creative setting?


Eric: Yeah, I would say so.


Persephone: Tell me about some of the creations you've been involved with at Burning man.


Eric: I’ve generally participated in creating the camp environment. Some of the things our camps have built are geodesic domes, pyramids, art cars, and flamethrowers.


Persephone: Can you send me some photos? I love art cars. We had a few in town in Bisbee, AZ. Are there art cars driving around in SJ?


Eric: Sure I can send you some pictures. Most of the art cars are not street legal and rarely resemble an automobile.


His love of community explains why he spends so much time on a site like Videosift and he had this to offer about its comparison with communities like the one he enjoys at Burning Man:


Persephone: What do you like about the Videosift community?


Eric: The sifters. I like reading the comments.


Persephone: Is it as satisfying as a face-to-face community like burning Man?


Eric: Burning Man only lasts a week, whereas Videosift is a daily thing for me. You get know peoples’ personalities better here.


Persephone: Really? Do you think people reveal themselves online, like they would in person?

Eric: I think it's easier to be yourself online.

Persephone: Perhaps. You can definitely get away with more online.


Considering how involved he is in real-life communities, it makes you wonder how he finds the time for Videosift and he had this to offer about how he started and why he’s the Late Night Channel owner:


Persephone: How did you discover VS?


Eric: I started on YouTube and ended up finding Videosift through a Google search.. Right away I knew this was the site I would be staying at.


Persephone: What inspired you to start the Late Night channel?


Eric: Fedquip's Throw Away Your T.V. channel was being dissolved and I thought the Late Night channel would be a good place to put The Daily Show and The Colbert Report videos.



I really enjoyed getting to know Eric via chat and am for one, looking forward to meeting Eric in the flesh, if the opportunity arises in California later this year. I hope to meet you too, if you’re going to be in town. Until then, Happy Sifting!