Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Help! Call Captain Uranus! The Twitterverse Has Sucked Me In and I Cannot Seem to Escape!

'Kayso (as Ninja Girl would say, who BTW is thus far having an exceptionally dapper week and could use some glitter vibes sent her way), I would really, really like to leave this story alone now, by which I mean I'd like to surreptitiously abandon it somewhere under an overpass on a scrubby hillside that smells faintly of urine, it seated heavily next to some gold medalist's tattered PR failure which is sucking down the last of something from a brown paper bag while periodically hawking up globs of phlegm and spitting them gutturally into the street ...

... but I can't, because we in the news biz (come on, pretend along with me) take followup seriously. Even when followup starts to feel like the last time you had really bad flu and over the course of an hour you threw up everything you'd eaten for the last two days and then you just kept throwing up every 20 minutes or so until you hit the dry heaves which I think is where we are now as evidenced by this dry heave tweeted yesterday by Evan:


And actually it wouldn't be fair to not report that Evan did, indeed, apologize.

So now finally I think we're done. Because we're not going to get into the fact that there's a really important pronoun missing from this apology, or sit around idly wondering what "measures" are being alluded to here to prevent exactly what from happening again, because as far as I can tell he's sticking with the "I-was-hacked" story since that tweet is still sitting on his feed, so is he simply apologizing for the insensitivity of the "hacker" and hoping these "measures" will help ensure that the next "hacker" is more polite and gender-ID-aware or what? And after this tweet appeared, Evan spent most of the rest of the day blocking various people from following him and randomly protecting and unprotecting his tweets. Because apparently he still doesn't realize that the problem was NOT centered in who was following him or the fact that his tweets were visible in the public stream.

Never mind. We're not going to go there. (See how I did that?)

Instead, we're going to wave goodbye and wish this story well and hope that it is an opportunity for all involved to hug and cry and learn and grow.

But just when I thought it was safe to walk away from Twitter for a little while yesterday, I discovered that Johnny is in the running for two Twitter awards! Which means once again we can assemble the troops and VOTE BABY VOTE! So we're going to sidle slowly away from the tweetwreck that is mumbling and drooling on itself in an unfortunate way under the overpass there, and get back to having real fun on Twitter, which of course includes reading tweets like these:

Moo58 I just realized that Evan also has a planet named after him. It's called Uranus. #YesIAmImmatureAndILikeIt

So: Johnny is up for both "Mr. Twitter" and "Sexiest Twitter" (sadly, there seems to be no "Mr. I Twitter-Pictured!" category), and you can vote every 20 minutes in each category. You do NOT have to have a Twitter account in order to vote--you can just click the "I Am Human" button (or have a nearby human click it for you if you're from Uranus) and vote vote vote!

Important note: Please be sure to UNCHECK the box next to "Check here to automatically direct message your vote to your twitter followers" AND the one next to "Check here to automatically tweet your vote" so we don't drive everyone crazy by clogging up the Twitter feed with thousands of "I voted for @JohnnyGWeir" tweets ...

In one day alone, we moved Johnny from somewhere in the 100s to #12 on Mr. Twitter (21 voting days left) and #8 on Sexiest Twitter! (25 voting days left). Just think what we can do now that we are no longer distracted by the smell of self-immolated mongoose flesh wafting lazily on the breeze ...

[We interrupt our programming to bring you a moment of shameless blog whoring: Hey! Somebody nominated this blog for "Best Forum, Message Board, or Blog"! So while you're voting for Johnny, please feel free to cast a vote or two for the blog as well. Only 7 voting days and 900 votes to go to make it to first place ... !]




In other news: Alert fan Suzanne Larson reminded me that Chicago-area fans (or any fans who are able to come to the Chicago area in October) have a wonderful opportunity to again make a difference in the lives of AIDS sufferers. Fan Gary Podschun has started a Facebook group called "Weirlandians for Life" for those interested in participating in the 2010 AIDS Run and Walk in Chicago on Saturday, October 2.

From the group's page:

AIDS Run and Walk Chicago is the largest AIDS-based outdoor fundraising event in the Midwest. Since its inception in 2001, AIDS Run and Walk Chicago has raised more than $3 million net to fight HIV/AIDS throughout the Chicagoland area. In 2009, more than 200 Teams joined forces to walk, run, and raise money in the fight against AIDS. With your help, we can surpass our goal of registering more than 300 Teams and raising $500,000 net!

The AIDS Run and Walk Chicago Course takes place along the city’s lakefront, featuring Chicago’s famous skyline. All participants will be provided with the official AIDS Run and Walk Chicago T-Shirt, Race Bib, entertainment along the course, pre- and post-event activities, as well as lunch and treats!

The Weirlandians for Life are having a kick-off event at 5 p.m. on Saturday, August 28, at Wilde Bar and Restaurant, 3130 N. Broadway, Chicago, IL. For more information or to RSVP, please visit the event page here. We hope to see Johnny well-represented by his fans on October 2!


Hey! You can enter to win a virtual styling session
with Johnny and a $500 shopping spree
from BlueFly.com!
Just submit a photo of the most
outrageous item in your closet!
Johnny will be choosing the winner in 10 days!
More info here!

Coming soon: The series
of translated interviews from the Mook Book
courtesy of the fabulous Akiko Nakata!

copyright 2010 / Binky and the Misfit Mimes / Lynn V. Ingogly / all rights reserved

11 comments:

WheresMyKoppy said...

I would like to think we can leave this alone now, but something tells me since two more news outlets picked it up (and it came up #1 on one of the Google News Alerts) that ain't happening... Yeah, that troublesome 'I' pronoun, as in 'I can not apologize enough... (we know)' and/or 'I apologize...'

Anyway, lol to your 'shamelss blog whoring' quote by the way! You were number twelve a few minutes ago when I cast my last vote before signing off!

Great idea for Gary to get this thing started. I know there was some talk on FB about trying to get local events in our areas going, so good for him!

And vote, vote, vote! Vote, wait 20 min, refresh page, vote again! For Johnny as 'Sexiest Twitter', Johnny asn 'Mr Twitter', and Binky as 'Best Forum, Message Board or Blog'! And like she says, UNCHECK THAT BOX! Our poor baby probably got hundreds of messages re the voting because we didn't uncheck our boxes, lol! I myself sent a few dozen DMs because I did't read where it sait to uncheck the box... LOL!

Beth (twitter-bsontwit) said...

Great blog MM!! Been voting for it and for Johnny! Another vote on twitter! We are ready for this one!

and I agree, Its so much nicer to talk about Johnny and how wonderful he is then....ummmm, who is that other guy again? I think he figure skates? maybe?? doesnt matter....Team Johnny!!

Beth (bsontwit-twitter)

Beth (twitter-bsontwit) said...

btw-if you are voting and cant remember the uncheck thing-you can sign in as a human instead of twitter (its on the bottom left). you just type 2 words to prove you are human and then you can vote - no tweets are generated. just another option!

Ali said...

This Evan non-apology is the same as the last, impersonal & placing blame everyplace but where it actually belongs. Until he accepts personal responsibility (foreign concept these days it seems) he will continue on his oblivious, blinders on, in denial, arrogant, you have gold we didn't know, way. He & his attitude need a well placed kick in the ass. I feel very sad for him.

Anonymous said...

Brava, Binky! I'd like to think that the outpouring of support for JGW over the weekend took a *little* of the sting of that comment away. Bigotry is never a joke, and I like to count myself among the many that made themselves heard.

And you're right ... it's time to let this lie. People can choose to forgive, but I think it's fair to say that the people who love Johnny will never forget. EL apologized, in his own way ... and hard as it may be, everyone needs to let that be enough now.

Jenn Kittler said...

I say we vote Paris into the top spots once Johnny wins. Luv the idea of him checking mentions & finding he's the sexiest Twitterer. Although the title may go to his head and make him hold our tweets hostage again.

A tip for power voters. I have an individual tab open for each category. I just refresh each page, vote, vote, vote, and done. The pesky boxes seem to stay unchecked that way.

Maggie St. said...

My birthday is October 2. So, if you were planning on getting me a gift (or not), feel free to take that money and throw it Gary & Company's way for the AIDS Run/Walk, or in my case Waddle.

I will officially be twice JGW's age. *no comment*


And HOW am I expected to vote when that means tearing my eyes off of that picture? *imagining those guns wrapped around my Dyson* < sigh > If we have numerous Twitter account, can we spend all day logging in & out of them to vote? Perhaps I will try that later. Should keep me out of trouble. *looks at pic one more time*

Anonymous said...

Voted for the twitter trinity! Am keeping those tabs up to revote.

Lauren / Ren said...

Nice refreshing blog post Misfit :)

Although I did find some song lyrics that describe EL rather perfectly.

"Nothing’s ever changed, you still turn away
You’ve washed your hands, you’ve made that all too clear
You just keep on living this lie

You refuse to see, you’re denying me
the cross I bear but you don’t seem to care
Even Judas knew he had lied"

Funny how music has all the answers ^^

Ninja Girl said...

'Sank you, Mama-san, for your kind sparkly-warklies. My Dapper Days are becoming less dapper by the... er... day. :)

Hensforth, I shall no longer refer to Evan as the all too kind "Mongoose", the maybe not as kind but incredibly accurate "Orange Bro", nor as the increasingly appropriate "Slore", or even as the "Dapper One OMG You Douche". When his visage enters my thoughts, I will call him Uranus. Then I will try to bleach my brain because he totes leaves a stain you can't remove no matter how much you rub Johnny on it but wowie I'm just going to keep trying.

PumaJ said...

MM, I love ya' and your blog is the best in the land:-)

That Evan's behavior sucked big time, there is no doubt:-( At least he (or his PR peeps) has issued some sort of an apology, which is better than none.
Let's hope he has learned a lesson and will be more mindful in the future.

Meanwhile, I am becoming a voting fiend whenever I actually have time to sit down at my computer. I will make sure to include your blog:-)