pointless – These Dirty Colors

What to do with Twitter?

By jason | April 28, 2011

A week or two ago, a professional colleague (for lack of a better word 🙂 asked me what I think is a pretty good question, “I can’t tell if it’s professionally wise or socially irresponsible to stay silent about my political views. @jasondlee thoughts?” It’s a tough question, I think, so here’s my rambling answer. 🙂

Twitter is, for me, a mostly personal outlet. Yes, I follow several peers, etc from around the industry, but I also follow friends from church, politicians, journalists, commentators, comedians, musicians, etc. For the most, I try to segregate my blogging into “personal” (here and here) and professional (here). Twitter, though, I tend to treat as more of a middle of the road outlet, more like the hallway conversations I’d be having if I worked in an office. Since I don’t, I tend to ramble more on Twitter. People that don’t like that know where the “unfollow” button is (and, believe me, from what little I’ve paid attention to follower counts, it gets used :).

Having said that, whether it seems like it or not, I try to be sensitive to the interests of my followers. I try not to spend too much time on political or religious matters, and, to a lesser extent (for the benefit of my Facebook Friends who see all my tweets via the Twitter app), I try not to tweet every geeky idea that comes to mind. I am, though, admittedly, MUCH less concerned with the latter. They can (and do, I hear 🙂 hide me from their stream on Facebook if they want to.

Some topics, though, I feel are either too important to filter out of my Twitter stream, so they get some attention. I also know that I follow a lot of people who don’t hold my positions, be they political or theological (and some even technical). Despite how incredibly awful Twitter is for real discussions (“Twitter is where conversations begin, then move somewhere more appropriate”, I’ve heard, kind of like this one), I do enjoy hearing the opposing viewpoint to the topic du jour. If I only ranted about this politician or that dangerous theological idea to the Duke stress relief squeezy, I wouldn’t get the sharpening and education that comes from active, public discussion (such as it is on Twitter).

So, in a nutshell, I treat Twitter as a *mostly* unfiltered venue for discussion/venting. That may irritate some and may cost me professionally (tough to say on that front), but I’m OK with that. I say nothing on Twitter that I wouldn’t say in a hallway conversation or a coffee shop. If someone doesn’t like that, well, there’s the unfollow button. 😛

A Goldberg File Sample

By jason | March 14, 2011

As I noted on Twitter, it seems that Jonah Goldberg stopped publicly archiving his weekly “Goldberg File” at about the same time he quit letting pictures of himself be taken. That being so, if you want to read this (mostly) weekly , hilarious commentary on… well who can really say, you have to subscribe. However, this description of his most recent trip to the theater (the pedestrian Main Street kind, not the swanky/snobby uptown kind. Not that that there’s anything wrong with that) is a great example of what to expect from it, and is too funny not to share. Without giving away the punchline, having been burned before, I understand his trepidation:

Dear Reader (and those readers who are not dear and those who are dear but who do not read),

The last time I went to the movies to see an adult film . . . er, I should say the last time I was in the theater to see a film for adults. As far as I can tell, they haven’t had adult theaters since On Golden Blonde was on the big screen.

Anyway, the last time I saw a non-animated movie in the theater, I saw True Grit. The Fair Jessica and I had a matinee movie date.

Before the movie started, there was a preview for a movie coming out later this year. At first it seemed to be like a big-budget film on the Moon Landing (I am choosing to capitalize that, like it or not), mixing archival footage with new stuff. The words “Our Nation’s Proudest Moment” flash on the screen. So far so good. Then, when Neil Armstrong lands on the moon, a new phrase appears: “A Secret Hidden for Forty Years.”

Uh-oh. What’s this? I thought. Intriguing. Exciting. Maybe someone in Hollywood has read one of my weekly letters and is finally making the movie “The Trial of Capricorn One,” an awesome sequel to the forgotten O. J. Simpson classic.

Then, we see real footage of Walter Cronkite telling viewers that the crew is on the “far side of the moon” and thus out of radio contact. Then the boss at Mission Control (more questionable capitalization!) tells Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin that “the mission is a go.” They have 21 minutes to check out something cool.

Oh, man, this looks great.

Suspense builds like a Sim City metropolis called “Suspense” created by an introverted South Korean kid with asthma, a broken leg, and rich parents. The astronauts moon-trot over a lunar ridge to find the massive wreck of a spaceship. Coolness! They start exploring it. More drama! Excitement!

Self, this is a movie I’m going to see, I said to myself.

My wife looks over to see me nodding as if a waiter just asked me if I like cold beer and ribs.

Then: Four of the most disheartening words in all of cinema appeared on the screen. You know of what I speak.

“From Director Michael Bay.”

Suddenly, the bowels stew like a forgotten fondue pot left too long over a lit can of Sterno.

Oh dear Lord, I know where this is going, I say as I look for the eject button on the arm rest.

Too late.

It’s a preview for Transformers III.

National Coffee Day

By jason | September 29, 2010

It’s National Coffee Day, so I thought I’d (re)share the Beantat Creed:

It is by coffee alone I set my mind in motion.
It is by the beans of java that thoughts acquire speed,
the hands acquire trembling,
the trembling becomes a warning.
It is by coffee alone I set my mind in motion

The Flaming Lips Love Communists

By jason | April 24, 2009

Recently, apparently, there was a poll for Oklahomans to help choose the official state rock song, a very important task indeed! After the voting was over, The Flaming Lips’ song “Do You Realize” came out on top. The state House, however, overrode the will of the people and stripped the song of its newly won title. Now, I’ll plead a bit of ignorance on part of this. I don’t know if the vote was supposed to be binding. I also don’t know if the House was supposed to vote to ratify the poll and didn’t, or if they voted to overturn it. I just don’t know, and I don’t care. That’s largely irrelevant.

The firestorm over the incident, though, is something of interest. It appears that the House voted against the song, because one of the members (no clue what his name is) showed up at the State House wearing a shirt emblazoned with the hammer and sickle. So, no state rock song title for them, a move I agree with. I’ve met a lot of Oklahomans having lived here for all but a year of my 34 years. I’ve not met one who thinks Communism is pretty cool. That the Lips’ fans don’t find anything wrong with the shirt says to me that they’re either historically illiterate, which is pretty scary, or that they’re not and they don’t find communism troubling, which is really scary.

One of the most annoying aspects of this whole affair is the sanctimonious sermon. by The Oklahoman’s editor, Ed Kelley. “The Flaming Lips are the latest Oklahomans to be demonized by the state House of Representatives.” Bah! He downplays the significance of the T-shirt by noting that “the old communist party…went out of business with the old Soviet Union nearly two decades ago.” I’m sure the people of Cuba and China would find that enlightening, if only their communist oppressors would give them the internet access to hear Kelley’s remarks.

“Just imagine how riled up legislators would have gotten if a band member had worn a t-shirt from a government currently in power, say, that of Barack Obama’s,” he then opines. Ed, while that’s a nice straw man, it doesn’t follow at all. Sure, many of us in Oklahoma have some very strident policy differences with the president, there’s a big difference between a liberal Democrat and what Reagan so rightly dubbed “the Evil Empire” (though I’ll grant those differences seem to be narrowing these days). Last I checked, President Obama doesn’t have a nuclear arsenal aimed at America.

Kelley then takes pot shots at the effort to put the Ten Commandments on the State House lawn. Heaven forbid (pun intended) that the silent majority of Oklahoma might want to acknowledge what they (we? 🙂 see as our heritage. We dare not offend, Kelley declares, the “small but vibrant communities of Asians in Oklahoma.” Lost on Kelley, apparently, is that he bristles at celebrating one monument to a belief system, The Ten Commandments, because it might offend a group, but has no problem celebrating another, the hammer and sickle, even though it offends a different group.

Next on his hit list are those awful, narrow-minded people that might actually want to enforce immigration laws, making illegal to hire illegal immigrants. Sure, Mr. Kelley, they may be hard-working, but they’re here illegally. The last time I looked things up, when you do something illegal, you’re a criminal. It’s really pretty simple.

Not safe from this non sequitur-laden diatribe are the efforts to make English the official language of the state. “Never mind that Oklahoma literally means ‘Land of the Red Man’ and home to dozens of Indians, many of whom have their own languages.” The English-only efforts are an attempt to combat run-away multiculturalism which has allowed an influx of immigrants to move into an area (and not just Oklahoma) and refuse to assimilate or learn the language. Instead, we’re supposed to cater to their every need, up to and including printing everything in English and Spanish, for example. It’s seen, and rightly so, I think, as an unreasonable burden upon the State and its people which drives up the cost of governing. “Supporting” only one language cuts costs, among other things.

In the end, what we learned from the Flaming Lips episode is that some Oklahomans like communists, and Ed Kelley can’t seem to construct a coherent argument.